Signature of the Divine
by bold as love57
Summary: When Bella finds herself becoming the nanny for Mackie Cullen she finds love from the oldest Cullen boy. When love runs dry and tragedy strikes roommates Bella, Rosalie and Alice who will be there to comfort Bella? BxE all human
1. Send My Love To The Dance Floor

**Disclaimer- I don't own Twilight. This is the disclaimer for the entire story. But under no means do I own any of these characters except the ones that I make up and aren't from Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, or Breaking Dawn.**

Bella Point of View-

I was officially done with my college years and couldn't be happier. I had spent the last four years piling up debts in UCLA and now I needed any type of job that would pay well. My original plan was to go to medical school, yet the money well ran dry and I can't afford it. I was walking back to my apartment with my best friend and roommate Alice Brandon, this short pixie of a girl who has cropped black hair, is studying to be a fashion designer at UCLA also. To pay bills she actually found a job that's perfect for her, she shops for people and becomes their stylist. Alice's boyfriend, Jasper Whitlock, actually teaches history at the local high school so we see a lot of him in the apartment. Rosalie Hale, or other roommate, is basically every guys fantasy. She's super tall and thin, with long blond hair, and works full time as a mechanic in the garage right around the corner from our place.

"Earth to Bella!!" Alice's light, sing-song like voice suddenly came into my head. "So I like I was saying tonight I think we should go over to that new club that opened right in the city. I've been dying to find somewhere to wear this new outfit I bought the other day and Rose already agreed to come home early so we could all get ready together." Clubs. My worst nightmare. Between my clumsiness and the drunk, disgusting men of LA I usually end up with a decent amount of bruises are sores from falling and bumping into things so much.

"Do I get a say in this anyways?" I asked already knowing my answer.

"Not one bit. But don't worry Bella; I've got the hottest outfit for you to wear to make everyone there go absolutely crazy over you. It's about time you got a boyfriend Bella, then me, you and Rose can all triple date." Rose's boyfriend, Emmett McCarthy, is an absolute teddy bear, but if you saw him you'd probably run in the other direction. He's the biggest, most muscular guy I've ever met. He is probably the reason that the term "meat head" was invented. I always enjoyed having him around though; he provided great entertainment. Jasper was a little more reserved. He had crazy blond hair that went everywhere and very angular features. He was our voice of reason in our little group of friends.

"Alice, how many times do I have to tell you, I need to focus on my work and paying of my debt, not making everyone crazy as you say. I'm going to be paying bills until I'm long dead I don't need to distract myself right now with a boyfriend." I tried to fight Alice on this one but knew it was worthless.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. It's summer, we just graduated college lets have some fun before we need to go into the real world. Pleeeease? Don't you love me? I picked this outfit out especially for tonight." Alice gave me the classic puppy dog pout. She knew I couldn't resist that face.

"Fine. But how about tonight you don't throw every single guy at the bar in my direction. Let me wander and see if there's anyone I like myself." I felt utterly defeated.

"YAY!! You are my best friend in the entire world! When Jasper and I get married I promise you can be my maid of honor!" She was basically shouting and jumping up and down on the sidewalk. I simply rolled my eyes in acknowledgement. I wonder if Jasper knows that his hypothetical wedding is already being planned. We finally reached our beachfront apartment right in Manhattan Beach. I had to admit it was pretty pricey but Alice and Rosalie's families insisted we live in a nice area and are covering majority of the bill. It was already about 6 when we got home and Alice shoved me into the bathroom that me and her shared, Rose had her own on the other side of the apartment, and told me to take a quick shower that Rosalie should be home any minute.

I let the warm water run down my back through my long brown hair. I washed my hair with my favorite strawberry shampoo and was out of the shower about 10 minutes later. I wrapped my bathroom around me and went into my room only to be greeted by Rose sitting on my bed with her hair already blown out and teased at the roots. It never ceased to impress me how fast she could get her hair perfect like that. She forcefully pushed me back into the bathroom and began pulling and poking at my head. I was officially Bella Barbie as Alice would call me. I lost all free reign over my hair, make up and wardrobe when I moved in with them two years ago. About twenty minutes later Rose was done with my hair and it hung lightly past my shoulder with a little bit of curl at the bottom giving me a lot of movement and bounce when I walked.

"Rose how on earth do you get my frumpy brown hair to do this. I want to be able to do it like this." I was still staring at the brown locks in the reflection.

Rose laughed, "Silly Bella, if I told you then you wouldn't need me around anymore. And anyways I like doing your hair so if you want your hair like this you'll just have to go through me. Now go back to being quiet so I can do your make up before Alice comes in here with your new outfit." I groaned at the thought, when Alice came in I usually ended up getting forced into something way too skimpy for my liking.

Rose chuckled at my cringing and went back to applying my makeup. She truly was a genius with this stuff though. She put just enough makeup on my eyes to make them pop but not enough to make it look like I was really trying. The gold in my eyeliner really made my brown eyes brighter and I looked almost completely flawless with the exception of the scar going down the right side of my jaw line. This was from before my mother died and would hit me, one day across the face with a knife. She hit me a lot when I was little. She died my freshman year of high school though so I escaped the monster.

"BELLLLLLLAAAAA. I'm coming in, in about three seconds you better be ready." Evil little pixie. She came running into my room already to go. She wore this very short and destroyed jean skirt with a completely open back, black tank top with bright pink Jessica Simpson pumps. "Okay, now Bella, there is no need to panic when I pull out your outfit okay?" That made me feel a whole lot better about this.

Out of the bag came an equally short skirt and a blue tube top with sequins across the top and bottom. The top was fine, but the skirt was a little over the top in my book. I was dreading my shoe choice at the point fearing the mix of my clumsiness and the death traps on Alice's feet. Thank fully she pulled out a pair black ballet flats with a few blue sequins on them too. I reluctantly pulled everything on and stepped in front of the mirror.

" Bella check out those legs, if I didn't have Emmett I would worry about competition out on the dance floor from you." Rose appeared in my doorway wearing a short red dress that was always just as backless as Alice's shirt. She was wearing gold pumps that only made her mile long legs look even longer.

"You're crazy if you think I'm competition." I was nowhere near as gorgeous as Rose was. All of a sudden a there was a loud bang downstairs and I heard a booming laugh. Knowing all to well that Emmett was officially in our building. Our door made the same loud bang as downstairs.

"ROSIEEEEE!" Emmett's big voice filled our little apartment and we all started to snicker as Rosalie got up off the bed and made her way out the door.

"Alice?" A calmer voice was now searching around the apartment. It was Jasper. He was always so much calmer than Emmett.

"We're in Bella's room Jazzy." She yelled through the door not bothering to get up. She looked at me and smiled and mouthed "you'll drive them wild". Jasper opened the door looking as though he might be intruding. We waved him in giving him the okay saying he wasn't interrupting anything.

"Bellzo where are you? Why haven't you done anything funny yet?" Emmett yelled using the nickname he came up for me. It was supposed to be like Bozo the clown but Bellzo. Apparently when I fell it was terribly funny hence the clown name.

"In here Emmett." All too soon my feet left the ground and I was being pulled into the biggest hug I've ever gotten. "Hey Emmett." I chuckled as he set me back down on my feet.

"Hey lil sis. Done anything funny today?" Everyone laughed and I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm sure you wont disappoint at the club tonight" He winked at started laughing again. "Well let's go!" He grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her towards the door while the three of us followed in suit.

Soon enough we were at the club and everyone was dancing. I had let go and had enough to drink that I was freely dancing around. This guy came up to me and grabbed my arm. He had shaggy blond hair and smelt like vodka. He tried to get me to dance with him pulling me into him.

"What the hell are you doing!" I screamed at him over the loud house music.

"Baby I just wanna dance with you. I'm Mike." He slurred at me. I tried to twist my way free of his grasp but he was too strong and I fell to the ground. "A little frisky are we? Good I like them like that." He laid down on top of me. That was it I needed help. I looked around while flailing screaming no. I couldn't find Emmett or Rose and began to panic. All of a sudden someone pulled Mike off of me.

"I believe she said to get away from her." A velvety voice carried over the music. I heard him and Mike fighting but I was to absorbed by the beauty of this man to really pay attention. He had bronze almost rusty colored hair, he was tall and muscular and wore a tight black tee shirt and dark wash jeans. He crouched down next to me and put a hand on my cheek. "Are you okay?" His green eyes pierced through my plain brown eyes.

"Y-Ye-ss" I managed to get out. He chuckled and helped me up to my feet. It was then that I realized I was shaking uncontrollably. That was when I broke down and started to cry. I couldn't believe what had just happened with that guy. The green eyed god pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me and began to sooth me.

"Shhh. It's okay, he won't hurt you anymore. I've got you its okay." He whispered. It seemed as though everything had stopped while I was wrapped up in this strangers arms. We stood like that for who knows how long until he pulled back a little to look in my eyes. I smiled shyly and my oh-so-annoying blush crept back onto my cheeks. He chuckled again and ran a hand over my cheeks, "That's more like it." He said giving me this crooked grin.

All too soon Alice came running up to me before I got the chance to ask the savior his name and pulled my arm as to tell me we were leaving that something was wrong.

"I have to go. Thank you very much for saving me." I said still blushing like crazy.

"My pleasure. Hopefully I'll see you around…" He trailed off as to ask my name.

"BELLA." I shouted over the music as I was being pulled away. I saw him mouth "Bella" and then flash his crooked grin.

"What was that all about? Huh?" Alice was now grinning from ear to ear. I rolled my eyes at her ability to become overly excited.

"It was nothing, he just pulled some guy off of me who was groping me." I stated not letting her know that I was wishing he would be more than just another guy in the club. I heard Alice's light musical laughter "Now what is the big emergency." I asked slightly annoyed that she had pulled me away from the guy. I silently allowed myself to call him Mr. X in my head as I did for every guy I met that I never figured out a name for. It was kinda like a code for me, Alice and Rose.

"Oh, well Emmett has had too much to drink again so we need to go before we get banned from this club too." We walked over to the bar only to find Emmett singing his own version of Benny and the Jets. He only go the chorus line right. As soon as he saw me he jumped off the bar and grabbed me into a big bear hug.

"Bellzo! You're here! Sing with me!" I simply ignored him and walked behind while everyone else managed to get him into the car. The singing continued all the way back to the apartment where he was staying the night with Rosalie. We took Jasper home because he had a conference for teaching early in the morning and didn't want to wake any of us up.

Alice was still giving me suspicious looks about Mr. X and I simply shrugged them off. "Oh, Bella, I forgot to mention. This one client of mine is looking for a nanny for her daughter, Mackie. She said she'd pay really well. So I looked into it for you and the pay is well enough that if you do it for about 6 months, you should have paid back half of your loans. She's 11 and apparently really well behaved…" Alice trailed off looking at me sheepishly.

"Alice! It's perfect! Thank you so so so much! You are the best roommate ever!" I was truly really happy with this new situation. I needed a job and it was located close to home and I love little kids. "Alice you're the best."

"Good I'm glad you're happy. You can come with me shopping tomorrow with Esme Cullen and you guys can discuss everything while I shop. She's the nicest woman ever. Treats everyone like they're her own kids. I'm so excited. Night Bella!"

"Night Alice. Thank you again." I laid down on my bed only to realize just how tired I really was and had my first dream about Mr. X.

**oh hey. hope you like it. the outfits are all on the webpage. **

**love ya bitches**

**rock on**


	2. The Burning Lines of Loss

Edward POV-

I needed a drink. Really bad. I just found out that my now ex-girlfriend, Tanya, had been cheating on me with my old college roommate Marc. I just graduated from UCSD and moved up to Manhattan Beach a few days after graduation.

I headed out to the club, not really in the mood to dance but I wanted something strong. I was sitting at the bar when I heard an angel like voice screaming stop. I got up out of my seat leaving my self-pity behind and followed the sound. That's when I saw Mike Newton, and old classmate of mine, laying on the floor muffling the screams of the girl. I pulled him off of the angel.

"I believe she said get away from her." I growled out from my clenched teeth. I took him behind where she could see and punched him square in the face probably breaking his nose and giving him a black eye. "You are going to stay away from her. Do you hear me Mike or should I make myself clearer?" He merely whimpered in return as I ran back to the angel lying on the floor.

That was when I got my first good view of her. She was stunning. Her long brown hair gently curled at the end falling around her shoulders down her back. She had big, chocolate brown eyes that stared up at me from behind long lashes. I was in shock to say the least. "Are you okay?" I managed to get out without letting on about how amazed I was by her.

"Yes." She sort of stuttered and then I noticed she was shaking. I pulled her up into my arms where I wanted to hold her forever. I told her it was going to be okay that Mike would never hurt her again. I wanted to tell her I would protect her forever and how it felt like the room had melted away when she was in my arms. She smelt amazing. Like strawberries. Then I recognized another scent of freesias. She was truly amazing. I pulled back so I could look into her eyes and she began to blush. It was the most beautiful blush I had seen in my entire 24 years of life.

All too soon her little pixie friend came and pulled her away from me. "I have to go. Thank you very much for saving me." She said politely as being dragged by the arm.

"My pleasure. Hopefully I'll see you around…" I was subtly hinting for her to tell me her name.

"BELLA." I heard her shout over the music. Bella. I mouthed the word again thinking to myself that the name suit her perfectly. She truly was beautiful. I needed to find her again. I needed her in my life. I hadn't even realized that the whole time I had been grinning like a mad man. Great now she probably thinks that I'm some kind of creeper who hangs around bars picking up damsels in distress.

Way to go Edward. You just screwed up your only chance with the most beautiful girl you've ever met. Now you just get to go sit back at the bar and be miserable. I mentally kicked myself for being such a fool. Instead of going back to the bar I went home to my apartment remembering I had planned to hang out with my little sister tomorrow. When I couldn't sleep I found myself thinking only of my beautiful Bella.

Wait had I just called her mine? What was I thinking? She probably had a boyfriend. How could someone so amazing not have a boyfriend? Soon I drifted off into a restless sleep.

**Hey guys! I'm thinking about 5 or 10 reviews before the next chapter? Sounds good to me!**


	3. Real Hard Headed

**Hey guys, i got bored waiting for reviews so here chapter three. the stories going to really pick up after this chapter sorry its a really slow start. but seeing as how im in a fabulous mood i figured i'd post anyways. **

KY PROPOSED THE OTHER DAY!!

ok carry on with your story..

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Bella POV

I woke up around 10 from a dream turn nightmare. Mr. X and I were vacationing off the coast of Mexico. I felt like I was in the commercial for Sandals Beach Resort. We were cuddled together in a small hammock just watching the waves break and the surfers trying to tame the next set. All of a sudden it was like the water called to me, and as much as I wanted to stay lying there in his arms I had to get up. I stood up as the tears rolled down my face. The water was once my home. I had spent many summers perfecting every surfing technique out there. Now in my dream it was my biggest fear. I let the waves crash violently around my legs and turned around to face Mr. X. The tears were falling freely now and as I continued to my death in the ocean, I heard him call out to me and come running after me. I knew he couldn't stop the calling so I ran faster. I swam with the current letting myself be pulled out. This was where I was to remain. Forever. Alone in the ocean letting the current control my body.

I awoke with a start, gazing out my window to the same ocean that had just taken me away from my life. I shuddered when I waked over to the rakes that I kept my surfboards. All three of them were still there. My surfboard collection always made me happy. I had set up racks so that they would all stand tall without me worrying they would fall. By some grace of God, I had learned how to surf with my clumsiness and its been the only thing I've been able to do without getting seriously injured in years. I ran my fingers along their rails. My 9'4" board was my first board ever. It had an old wooden look to it which made me fall fast in love with it. My 7'2" board came next, figuring I should challenge myself with a little bit less board. And finally my recent conquest, the 6' board; the fishtail board I had always dreamed of riding.

I stepped out into the kitchen and saw a note taped to the fridge from Alice.:

_Bella, _

_Meet me and Esme in the food court around noon. We'll meet you there. Wear something casual, maybe like that long dress of yours you always wear. Don't be late!_

_Love, Alice_

Alice knew me all too well to know that I would be on the late side. I would make sure that I had plenty of time this time before leaving the house. I turned on my stereo and went into the kitchen to make a bowl of cereal. I slipped on the way to the cabinet and cursed at my stupidity of wearing socks on hard wood flooring. I have pretty thick skin from so many accidents when I was younger that I didn't even worry about the bruise that would probably form along my side. I brushed myself off and began eating my bowl of captain crunch.

I had plans to meet Alice and Mrs. Cullen at the food court around noon. They had another shopping expedition early today; apparently Mrs. Cullen had a big dinner tonight in the city with Dr. Cullen. I looked around until I found my favorite long dress and a simple pair of flip flops. I wanted to look casual yet still professional. My heart was racing after I got out of the shower and quickly dressed. I knew my hair would look better if I just let it be instead of trying to be Rosalie. My hair is pretty frumpy but it just had to work today. I walked out of the door with about twenty extra minutes just to be safe.

Of course right as I got to the door I grabbed the door handle the same time someone on the other side did and I went flying into Emmett.

"Excellent Bellzo! Starting the day off on the right foot. Or should I say wrong in your state." His booming laughter shook through his chest as he pulled me up into a bear hug.

"Emmett…you're strangling me." He smiled slyly and put me back down. "Wait, Rose is at work what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the garage too?" I was now seriously curious as to why he was making me late to my job interview.

"Rosie needed me to grab something from her room on my break. What's it to you? Huh?" He was really a rambling idiot sometimes.

"I live here Emmett."

"Oh. Right." He looked at me completely embarrassed but brushed it off and went laughing into the apartment.

"I'm leaving for an interview. Make sure you lock up the place when you find whatever the hell you're looking for in there." He laughed in response and I figured when I got home my apartment would be wide open. Just like last time Emmett barged into here. I made it to my car, my nice new pick up truck, which was a graduation gift from my parents. I was at the mall in record time and sitting in the food court patiently waiting for my best friend and future employer to show up. Needless to say at this point I was shaking in my boots.

"Oh! There she is!" I could hear Alice's voice from here. "Bella! Isabella! Hello there best friend. How was your morning?" Alice's energy was bursting out of her seams. I saw a beautiful woman next to her smiling sweetly at me.

"Hello Bella." She said simply. Still smiling sweetly. She took my hand and shook it.

"Hi. You must be Mrs. Cullen. Its truly a pleasure to meet you. Alice has said great things about you." I was so bad at awkward introductions.

"Alice!" She looked over at Alice and they both giggled. I immediately felt on the outside of their little joke. "Please dear, call me Esme. I've got your folder right here with all your recommendations. I must say its highly impressive."

"I have a fol-" I started to ask not knowing when I acquired a folder, only to be cut off by Alice.

"Don't be silly Bella, I made you a folder of all the things you've done in the past with young children. I've shopped with Mackie and I wouldn't want just anyone watching over her, even if you are my best friend in the entire world." Alice was always so professional.

"I've already decided that you have the job, Bella, if there are any questions about my family, any at all I'll be happy to answer them for you." Esme was the sweetest woman in the entire world. She made me feel like I had a real mother, unlike the horrid woman who beat me every night. Esme must have noticed the look in my eye and put a hand on my shoulder. "Dear are you alright?" She said quietly enough that Alice who was heading towards a sale wouldn't hear.

"Yes, thank you. It's just I never really had a mother, well I had one but she died my freshman year of high school and you remind me of the mother I always wanted." I was rambling but something about Esme's hand that was now rubbing my one arm made me feel like it was okay to ramble about my dead mom.

"I'm so sorry about your loss, sweetie it must be really hard on you." She seemed truly concerned. If only she knew that my mother gave me this scar down the right side of my jaw, or that she almost killed me from the loss of blood when I was 6.

"Thank you. And it wasn't that hard on me, my mother used to beat me when I was younger. I kind of saw it as karma. She gave me this scar down the side of my face, its my daily reminder of what I've been through. It's also why I love little kids. When I'm around them I feel like my childhood wasn't robbed from me." I was now staring down at the floor unable to look at the shock on Esme's face. She stopped walking and pulled me into a very motherly hug. It felt like a home should feel. The gentle touch a woman who was bursting with love. Esme was truly the woman I had wished was my mom all along.

"Oh dear. I am so sorry. I had no idea. I've always wanted an older daughter. If you ever need a mother figure please feel free to talk to me anytime. I only have little Mackie and her older brother, Edward. He's the same age as you but it's just not the same as having a girl. If you ever need anything, anything at all, I'm here for you Bella." We were still embracing when Alice found us and asked if she interrupted anything.

"No, its cool Alice. I was just telling Esme about my mother." Alice understood. She was the first person I ever told besides my dad. She gently lifted her hand and ran her fingers gently down my scar while smiling as she always did when I talked about my mother. She constantly told me how pretty the scar was and how unique it made me.

"So Bella, I was thinking that you could start tomorrow, but if you need more time-" I quickly cut her off saying that tomorrow would be perfect. I asked if she needed me tonight while she went out with Dr. Cullen and she laughed and said that she was making Edward watch Mackie tonight. Edward was studying to be a doctor, just like his father. Just like I would have been. She said he wasn't around much but that I would eventually meet him and that he was the most amazing son a mother could ask for.

"Maybe you guys will hit it off. That could be a little scandalous." Alice snickered thinking out loud. Then all of a sudden realizing that Esme was still standing there. "Oh my god Esme, I did not mean it that way. I did not just suggest that Bella date your son. Oh god. I'm going to stop talking now." This was the first time I had ever seen Alice at a lost for words.

"Don't worry about it, Alice." Esme was laughing softly. "I would be lucky if my little Edward ended up with someone as special and beautiful as Bella. As soon as Mackie finds out that you two are the same age she'll start trying to set you guys up. She's into all the dating shows now." Oh great. An eleven year old is now running my love life. This will probably not end well.

"My love life has been no existence for a while now, if Mackie can change that you might know her life's mission. Solve the unsolvable. But trust me, Edward can probably do better than me." I hadn't even noticed that Esme and Alice had been exchanging mischievous glances at each other the entire time. This was definitely not going to end well. After a long chat about my love life and Edwards, who it turns out is recently out of a relationship where he had been cheated on, we said our goodbyes and I was told to be at the Cullen's house around 8 in the morning.

Alice pulled my arm as we parted ways with Esme. She linked her arms through mine and just as I was about to make my way to the parking lot she pulled me away to the direction of the store, "Everything But Water." No. No. No. She was going to try and get me into a bikini again.

"Alice, why on earth do I need a bikini?" She full on knew that I don't wear bikinis. She was going to kill me before I could even start working.

"Well I figured you could go to the beach tomorrow with Mackie, maybe teach her how to surf. And…if Edward is truly this amazing you need to look twice as amazing as normal." Teaching Mackie how to surf sounded like something I would enjoy doing, but when Alice started talking about Edward she totally lost me. She was making little sense, seeing as how I would be with Mackie all day not Edward. She began throwing bathing suits at me left and right. We finally decided on one that had plain blue bottoms and and white and brown design with blue highlights on the barely there top piece.

"Alice I hate you." I was still really pissed off about the whole bikini situation as we walked to the cars. "But seriously, I don't see why this was necessary when I wont even be with Edward tomorrow."

"Bella, you'll love me if you casually bump into him at the house or whatnot and are looking amazing in this bikini. Unless he's weird looking then I truly apologize." She was laughing again and this time I joined her. We both knew that that would be my luck.

Tomorrow is going to be a long, long day.

**ok this time im holding out for those reviews...until then i have a wedding to plan ...please review**


	4. Into Oblivion

**Hey Everyone! To Those who reviewed you guys are awesome. If you didn't review you should really consider it i'll post faster! Anyways i have class starting again on september 3 so between that and planning my wedding posting will probably become less frequent but no worries my little readers, i have the whole story planned out chapter by chapter so no need to worry about writers block. anyways enjoy this chapter ... reviews are love**

**peace out**

**N**

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Bella POV

I woke up nice and early the next morning so I could get the surfboards ready to go. I decided I would bring the long board for Mackie and the 7'2" board for myself. I was about Mackie's age when I learned how to surf on the long board so she should be able to handle it. I didn't want to wake up Alice because I knew that meant time for Bella Barbie again and honestly if I was just going to the beach I didn't see why my hair had to be blown out and straight.

Of course with my luck when I got out of bed I hit my head on the ceiling. (My bed is a bunk bed but instead of a bottom bunk its my desk.) I groaned in pain and that was enough to wake up the little pixie sleeping in the matching bed across from mine.

"I really hope you weren't trying to sneak out without waking me up Bella." She said stretching her arms up. She had plenty of room for that up on the top bunk because of her small size. If I tried that there would probably be a large hole in our flimsy ceiling from where my hands would go right through it.

"Alice, please don't try and do my hair and make up. Really, I'm just going to the beach. No need to get all fancy. I'm already wearing the bikini you made me get yesterday isn't that enough?" By the time I had already finished my pleading she was up and in my closet throwing things out at me. "C'mon Alice, I'm going to be late if you keep this up." Which was true, she had a tendency to really draw out her fashion endeavors in my room.

"Don't be ridiculous Bella. They live right down the road from here. I think you'll be fine. Here go in the bathroom and put your bathing suit on and then come back out here. I'll find something perfect for a cover up." She was now buried in my messy closet.

"Fine. But I swear Alice do not go over the top. I was thinking a pair of jean shorts and a tank top or something simple like that." That only made her laugh. The idea of fashion being simple was not something Alice had fully grasped. I trudged off into the bathroom looking at myself in the mirror. Oddly enough my crazy long hair had worked to my advantage and was just hanging loosely down my back. It wasn't frizzing or going out in every direction like it usually did. I simply ran my fingers through it not wanting to disturb it and slipped into my bikini. I have to admit I looked completely ridiculous. I never wear bikinis. When I go surfing I always have either a guard on with bikini bottoms on or a wetsuit. Since I wasn't really surfing today Alice insisted I looked "surfer chic" I believe her words were.

I looked at myself one last time before leaving the bathroom. The little piece of jewelry hanging from my belly button always made me shake my head. Alice and Rosalie, who have the stomachs for this type of piercing, convinced me to get it done when we were sophomores in college. I wore a simple little ring with a diamond ball. Nothing big and flashy like Rose and Alice.

I stepped into our room and Alice had laid out a pair of jean cut off shorts and a white eyelet tank top. It was paired with my simple Rainbow flip flops that I loved to death. I pulled the outfit on and grabbed the long board first and walked out to my truck. I laid it down in the bed of the truck and pulled the bungee cord around it. laying a towel down over it, I ran back up the front steps and grabbed the other board that I would be riding today. I repeated the same bungee cord routine and walked back into the house to grab my keys and bag. I threw a few pieces of sex wax into the bag and was on my way. (**A/N: sex wax is a wax to help stay on the surf board nothing perverted about this) **I got into my car and rolled down the windows letting my hair blow around me. I drove along the beach the entire way until I reached this amazingly, beautiful house. Alice wasn't exaggerating when she said the house looked like it belonged in Orange County.

I pulled up on the street and got out of the car and looked at the house in all its beauty. Saying it was huge was an understatement. It was three stories tall and had balconies coming off the side to face the ocean. I got up and let myself in through the gate a little intimidated by the gorgeous design on the front door. I knocked on the door and a moment later Esme was standing in front of me. She was smiling ear from ear. Behind her came running an animal that I could have mistaken for a horse. I must have looked startled because Esme was quick to reassure me that it was the family dog, Bailey.

"I'm sorry I wont be around at all today, I'm meeting my old college roommates for a spa day in Orange County. Mackie should be around her somewhere." She said looking around. Soon enough a little bronze haired girl came running towards me and jumped, wrapping her whole body around mine. I laughed and held her up. She pulled back and studied my face.

"You must be Isabella! You're going to be my new best friend. I can't wait." She was grinning like a mad man. Her grin was a little crooked and I couldn't remember where I had seen that grin before.

"And you must be Mackie. You can call me Bella." I said trying to match her enthusiasm. "Esme, I was thinking of taking Mackie to the beach today and teaching her how to surf. I checked the waves and they are very flat today. Would you mind if that's what we did today?" I turned to Esme and she was still smiling.

"I think Mackie would love that. She always watches the surfers on the beach from her room. You can come back here and order a pizza if you want after. I left money on the table for you guys to get dinner. I really must be going though I'm going to be terribly late." She was looking around for her keys and I saw them and handed them to her.

"Have fun." Mackie was still clinging to me waving goodbye to her mother. It was just me and her and the horse dog in the house now. "How about we go get your bathing suit and we go to the beach? I brought my surf boards if you want to learn." I said to Mackie setting her down on the stairs.

"Really? You'll really teach me how to surf? I've always wanted to surf!" She said running up the stairs. I quickly followed her not wanting to get lost. We were finally in her room which was at the end of the hall. She pulled out a pink seersucker bikini that Alice would have died for. She was still running and went to put it on and came running back to me where I was sitting on her bed. "I've always wanted a big sister." she said climbing into my lap.

"I've always wanted a sibling. I'm an only child. I think we're going to be best friends Mackie. Your mom told me you have an older brother. I think he would be jealous if he heard you talking like this." This made her laugh. Okay, maybe he wouldn't be jealous?

"Silly Bella, Eddie doesn't do anything fun with me. He has his own apartment down the street so I don't really see him. He's too busy with school for anything. He doesn't even pay attention to girls that much." She was now playing with my hair. She was absolutely adorable. She had long almost red hair that curled naturally. Her face was round and with that crooked grin of hers you couldn't help but fall in love with her. I swear though I had seen that grin somewhere.

"Well then lets go do something super fun and make Eddie jealous. How's that sound?" She nodded in response and jumped off my lap.

"Race you to the car!" She yelled taking off for my truck. I took off after her but not too fast, there was no need for me to trip going down the stairs. The horse dog kept looking at me and it started to freak me out. I wonder if that's some kind of house code that your dog couldn't be the size of a small pony. Then I figured to myself that they probably had enough money to change that rule.

Mackie was waiting patiently for me out by the truck and looked up at me, as I got closer. "You're very pretty." She was still staring up at me with her head tilted to the side.

"Thanks Mackie! You're very pretty too. I think one day we should go shopping together with Alice. You remember Alice right?" I asked not really realizing what I was getting myself into.

"You know Alice?" She basically screaming and began jumping up and down at the mere mention of Alice's name. Oh jeez Alice had this poor little girl brainwashed.

"I live with Alice. We share a bedroom in our house down the street and our best friend Rosalie lives in the other room." As I said this Mackie's eyes grew to the size of quarters. "Would you like to come over sometime and hang out with us?" I asked watching her excitement grow with the idea of hanging out with the big girls.

"Really? That would be so…awesome!" Well she was easily excited. Why not let her hang out with us, Rose would probably find it highly enjoyable watching Alice and Mackie's energy together in the same room.

"Of course you can come over whenever you like. But now, lets go surfing before it gets any later." I looked at my watch surprised at how it was almost 11 already. She hoped into my truck and looked at me curiously as I didn't get in but went to the back and started unloading the boards. "We're not driving silly. The beach is right there." She honestly thought we were driving. I was a little curious thinking if they actually drove the half a second it would take to go to the beach.

She climbed out and grabbed my bag from my shoulder as I picked up the boards. I had a board under each arm seeing as how Mackie was too small to carry either of them. I didn't mind though. She carried our bags and towels as we made our way towards the hot sand. She was rambling on and on about her life and her brother and everything. We finally reached a spot where she was happy and she plopped the stuff down. I took each board and dug them into the sand having them standing behind us.

"Which one do I get?" She was standing next to the boards that were twice as tall as her and she looked very small in comparison.

"You get the really big one." She looked up at the board in awe and began doubting herself. I told her it was going to be okay that that was the same board I learned on when I was her age. I taught her how to paddle on the sand knowing I was taking her out very far but still paddling was a good tool to learn. I decided to leave my board on the beach at first and just swim next to her and help her contain her board.

We got out into the water and there were very little waves. I doubt I would be able to surf on such little waves but I knew it would be good for Mackie. I got her safely out to the sandbar and hung out there while the water came up to my hip I turned her around and started to tell her about my life while she just bobbed up and down in the water. Finally a few little waves came and I was able to push her out into them. The first few times she ate shit. She got a little discouraged so we took a break for lunch and got some sandwiches from the little beach shack on the corner.

After lunch she wanted to go into the water and try a few more times so I grabbed my board this time too and sat on that just bobbing up and down. And then it happened She caught the wave and stood up riding the wave all the way into the shore. I caught the next one in and came up right behind her.

"Mackie! That was awesome! I'm so proud of you!" I was ecstatic to say the least. The look on her face was priceless. She was so happy.

"I did it! I did it!" She was freaking out at this point. We hung out in the water talking and catching a wave here and there for the next few hours. I realized it was about 6 o'clock and I dragged Mackie out of the water. We did our same set up walking back that we did walking here. I had the boards. Mackie had the bags. Once the boards were back into my car we strolled into the house laughing.

"Mackie what do you want to order for dinner? Want me to just get a pizza?" I yelled up the stairs as she ran to go take a shower and put on dry clothes.

"Yea! A pizza sounds good. Get pepperoni on it!" And with that I heard the shower turn on and she began singing Hannah Montana.

I chuckled to myself thinking about how bad I hated Hannah Montana and how much Alice loved her. I ordered the pizza and then ran out to my car to get a change of clothes and went back in to change. Once I had on dry clothes I sat on the couch and started watching TV. Horse dog over there kept looking at me and I was starting to get annoyed.

"Alright horse-dog what on earth is your problem?" Okay I officially lost it I was talking to a dog. I heard a soft chuckle behind me that was too low to be Mackie's. I turned around freaked out and fell flat on my ass startled. There he was. Mr. X. I must have fallen asleep and been dreaming. Why would Mr. X be at the Cullen's house?

"Edward! Stop scaring my nanny!" Mackie came running over to me crawling back into my lap just like she had before. I must have been blushing terribly hard because Mackie put her little hand up to my cheek and giggled. He kept looking at me as if he's seen a ghost.

"I'm…uh. I'm going to go Mackie. I'll uhm uh leave you guys alone." And that was it he left in a hurry still acting like he had seen a ghost. What the hell? I didn't even get that good of a look at him. That messy bronze hair though looked oddly familiar. I ran out after him to see if I had insulted him.

"Hey! Wait up! Did I do something?" I asked, slightly annoyed at his unexplained hatred of me. Seriously who did he think he was treating me like that. Then he turned around.

"You don't remember me do you?" His face was pained but still the most gorgeous thing I had ever seen. He had very sharp features. His bronze hair blew in the wind and fell messily around his face. His body was amazing, and even though he was wearing a tee shirt and shorts I could still see the definition in his arms. I was so confused at his last statement. I knew him? I would definitely remember if I knew him. Then it hit me. As I looked up I saw his eyes. Mr. X's eyes. The same green that pierced through me that night at the club.

I took a step back and tripped over the curb. I was contemplating how bad this was going to hurt when I was pulled into two strong arms. Now those same green eyes were inches away from me; looking in to my eyes as if searching for something. He pulled me back up onto my feet still looking at me waiting for my reaction.

"It's you. You saved me from that guy. You're the infamous Edward everyone's been telling me about?" He chuckled and that's when I noticed the grin. The grin that matched Mackie's adorable grin; it was Edward's. As soon as this all hit me and he opened his mouth to see you Mackie called out the door to us.

"Edward stop stealing my best friend! Bella the pizza is here!" Mackie looked at us with the grin on her face. The grin that matched his perfectly.

"Uh I should uh…my job. See you?" I was a complete and utter mess. To quote my favorite movie, he made me melt like a popsicle on the fourth of July.

"I would like that, Isabella." He flashed that smile at me once more before I turned around and walked back into the house while Mackie was still grinning.

"You so love my brother! Can I tell him please? Please? Pretty please?" Mackie was freaking out singing about how Edward and I were going to get married. I tried to shush her knowing very well he could still hear her. I turned around to find him looking back at me chuckling silently to himself. Great, he did hear. I clamped my hand down on her mouth and she just kept grinning as I shoved us both in the door.

I got the door shut and let Mackie go crazy, jumping up and down, the whole shebang. I slumped to the floor thinking about everything that had just happened. How could Edward be Mr. X. That makes no sense at all. But then again, his arms; the way I felt in them it was the same as the night he held me while I cried. I had found Mr. X.

"Uh Miss?" A knock on the door brought me back to life. I turned to see the pizza guy looking very confused.

"Oh sorry." I was blushing intensely and avoided eye contact while I paid for the pizza and shut the door.

"Bella." Mackie's voice echoed through the whole house. "I can't wait for you to marry my brother!" Then she started laughing again and grabbed a slice of pizza. I rolled my eyes as we ate pizza and then curled up on the couch until she fell asleep on my lap again. She was truly an affectionate creature. I was planning on how to get her up and into her room when I heard the door open.

I must have gasped pretty loudly because Edward announced it was him and not a killer. Great, I rolled my eyes again. He came around the couch and noticed me holding Mackie. He laughed at me, his laugh was low but at the same time very light.

"Need any help? I see you have your hands full." His velvety voice filled the room at once. I hadn't noticed the smoothness in his voice before outside, maybe because I heard the waves in the background and that made everything a little fuzzy to me.

I smiled and nodded because that was all I could do. I was at a lost for words when he was around me. He smiled and picked Mackie up from my lap not disturbing her one bit. I let him carry her up the stairs and tuck her in while I cleaned the kitchen up from our pizza party. He came back into the kitchen and hopped up on the counter.

"So you're the new nanny huh Isabella?" He dragged out my full name as in a teasing way that he knew my real name. I hadn't turn to look at him knowing I was mentally freeze again making a fool out of myself.

"Yup. Mackie's really great. Oh and you can just call me Bella, no one ever really calls me Isabella." I said hoping he would get the hint that I hated being called that.

"I like Isabella. We'll see if I can switch to just Bella. Maybe someday." He said with a wink and hopped off the counter. "You got it from here or are you gonna slip and fall again? Just so I can be prepared."

"I think I'm good thanks. Did you need something or did you just come over here for the hell of it?" I was beginning to get annoyed with this amazing looking guy. He was really pushing some of my buttons.

"Just came to hear your voice that's all. Night Isabella." He said with his crooked grin and walked out the door.

"Good night Edward." I whispered and went back to the couch to finish my movie until Esme and Carlisle got home.

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**Well i hope you guys love that edward is finally coming into the story...i sure do. things are about to get realllly interesting with our lovely little characters. so review and i'll post the next chapter very soon love you guys! **


	5. Teaser

**Well in hopes of getting you guys to review I'm giving you a preview of what's to come in the next two chapters. Please, please, please review? It'll make me want to write more and the more I write…the more intense E & B are going to get. maybe even a lemon somewhere in there but lets not get ahead of ourselves. so pleaseeeeeee review. they make me smile. and no one wants a frowning bride.**

"You know, penguins are one of the only animals that mate for life." Edward whispered in my ear, leaning around me with a hand on either side of me. Mackie was beside us looking out into the cage of penguins smirking to herself.

"Is that true?" I was trying to keep it together while he was standing behind me that close. Our bodies were touching and I felt it; the bolt of electricity that Alice had been talking about. I wanted so badly for him to kiss me right there and then, to tell me that he couldn't live without me and he loved me.

"They find that perfect soul mate and then they find the prettiest pebble and give it to that special penguin as a token of their love. Geez Bella, haven't you ever seen The Pebble and the Penguin?" I was still wrapped up in his arms with his cool breath blowing on my neck. I shuddered as his sweet smell engulfed me. This was perfection. Before I could answer he was already untangled from me and was heading towards a gift store.

I hung out with Mackie while Edward was off doing something. I got us two snow cones not knowing when Edward would come back and we walked off towards the polar bear exhibit. We were standing on the pass way above the big tank watching the bears play with the balls when I felt something cool slide around my wrist.

I flinched at first not knowing what it was, almost dropping my snow cone into the tank. I looked down at my wrist and saw a small silver chain now clasped to me with a penguin charm on it. The penguin had a little diamond in its mouth. I looked up at Edward to see him smiling at me and before I could react, he was wrapping a big stuffed monkey around Mackie's shoulders. I listened to her squeal with delight but I was still fixated on the penguin dangling off my wrist.

"The pebble and the penguin. Finding its true soul mate, falling in love." He was looking me straight in the eye while he was speaking. His eyes were burning with some unknown emotion. Then there was an ear-shattering scream.

It was Mackie.


	6. Just Watch Me

**Ok guys. I say we try and double the amount of reviews? The more reviews i get the spicer the story is going to get. so lets aim for somewhere around 20? you guys are great! Just to clear everything up, this is the event right before they go to the zoo. Its leading up to what happened in the teaser. Thanks Lets play x D e a d , so much for pointing this out to me that this is probably confusing. Next chapter is dramatic if you review enough it'll be up tomorrow **

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Bella POV

I full on crashed when I got home from my long day with Mackie. I still hadn't wrapped my mind around _Edward. _It was weird now that he actually had a name. I was going back to the house again tomorrow and staying the next two nights with Mackie while Carlisle and Esme went out of town for their anniversary. Mackie was so excited that we were going to have a sleepover.

I told her that we could hang out with Rose and Alice, maybe even go shopping, before going back to her house for the night. I woke up from a dreamless sleep, and stepped into the shower. I didn't really enjoy my shower last night since I was half asleep, but I didn't want to get into bed after being in the ocean all day. Alice had tried to bombard me with questions about Edward and all I could say was Mr. X before I passed out on top of my blankets. Alice wasn't in the room when I got out of the shower so I figured she had woken up when I slipped on the tile flooring of our bathroom. Seeing as how it was a little cold out, I dressed in comfy blue sweatpants and a tank top. The tank top showed a good amount of skin but it was so damn comfy I wouldn't part with it. I pulled my rainbows on knowing it would be a long day of walking.

I smelt coffee and drifted towards it. As I had guessed Alice was already dressed for our shopping trip with Mackie and making a cup of coffee for both me and Rose.

"Good morning sleepy head! Oh good. I see you wore something comfortable and easy to take on and off. Bella, I think I'm starting to rub off on you." She smirked and got a twinkle in her eye, pretending to wipe away a fake tear.

"Alice, you have not worn off on me. I am just growing smarter to your crazy ways. I know very well what this day is going to be very painful in anything else." I took my cup of coffee and grabbed my keys. "I'm going to get Mackie. Please try to not act like a crazy pixie when I get home. And where is Rose? Mackie wants to play with her hair."

Right on cue, Rosalie walking through the kitchen, half asleep, still in her short boxers and an old shirt she got from working at the garage. To my horror, Emmett stepped out of the room next, clad in only boxers, scratching his huge chest.

"Hello ladies. Eat your hearts out, this is a once in a life time chance." Emmett flexed a few times getting a giggle out of Alice and a smack on the head from Rosalie.

"Okay. I am going to pick up an 11 year old. Emmett I suggest you either put clothes on or you leave. I am not explaining to her why you're coming out of Rose's room half naked." I was dead serious. Emmett thought I was kidding and picked me up in a bear hug.

"Bellzo. No need to worry little sis. I'll just go get dressed and then Rosie can take me to the garage before going shopping with you guys. Unless you want me to give the little girl the birds and the bee's talk, I'd be happy to hang around." He finally put me back on the ground and I shot him a death look. I was not in the mood right now.

"Don't worry Bell. I'll get him out of here. Now go before you're late to pick up Mackie. And tell her she can play with my hair all she wants. It's basically indestructible." She shooed me out the door and that was that.

I drove down to the Cullen's house realizing Carlisle's Mercedes wasn't there anymore. Shit I was late and they had to take Mackie. God Damnit. Stupid roommates. Then I heard the door open and Mackie's light laughter. I hopped out of the car and Mackie jumped up into my arms while I spun her around on the lawn.

"Mom and Daddy had to leave early, so Eddie is here waiting with me! Now you can tell him how much you love him!" She was grinning again. I don't think she ever stopped grinning to tell you the truth.

"Yea right. Anyways lets go grab your stuff, and say goodbye to _Eddie._" I dragged out his name knowing that it was my way of rebelling to him calling me Isabella. Right as I walked in the door Edward came around a corner with a cup of coffee in his hands. His sudden appearance shocked me, especially since he wasn't wearing a shirt and looked like he was just woken up, and I fell into him causing him to spill his entire cup of steaming coffee all over me.

"Oh shit Bella. I am so sorry. Here let me get that. Oh god. Mack can you go get paper towels. I'm gonna grab Bella a new shirt. I am so sorry." He hadn't looked me in the eye the entire time he was blabbering on. It burned a little but I was fine.

"Its fine Edward. Don't worry about it. It was my fault anyways. I'm the one who fell into you." I was blushing like mad. Edward started to chuckle lightly at the whole situation and soon enough I joined in and we were laughing hysterically. He lifted one finger signaling me to wait a sec. He ran up the stairs and reappeared in a flash holding a pile of clothing.

"You'll probably be swimming in them but put them on before you burn your skin off." He commanded handing me the sweat pants and rugby shirt. There was a towel at the bottom of the pile for me to dry myself off with I assumed. He pointed me in the direction of the bathroom and started to clean up the mess on the floor.

They smelt like him. The clothes were huge. The crotch of the sweat pants hung down around my knees and the pockets could probably fit my entire purse in them. They were a simple blue with UCSD down the leg. Of course since my legs weren't as long as any guys, the "D" was down at the bottom of my foot. The rugby shirt was also just as big on me. It was maroon and white stripped with the number 4 over the left breast. On the back it said "CULLEN" and I smiled thinking about how his name was on me. I had to admit they were the comfiest clothes I had ever worn.

I came out of the bathroom looking for Mackie. I found her and Edward curled up on the couch waiting for me, Edward looked half asleep still and Mackie was just sitting on his lap chatting away.

"I think you love Bella. I think you should marry her, Eddie. Then we could be one big happy family. I see the way you look at her. You do love her. Eddie, can we hang out tomorrow with Bella? I know you want to. I want to go to the zoo. Please Eddie? I love Bella too. You don't need to be embarrassed." She was really set on me marrying Edward. Mackie was a very persistent little girl. Edward chuckled softly not opening his eyes.

"Mack, you know Bella would never love me back even if I did love her. She's much too pretty for someone like me. If Bella agrees to go to the zoo tomorrow, I'll go too." He smiled still not opening his eyes. I felt like I was suddenly intruding on some personal family moment.

"Uhm, Mackie, you ready to go? Alice gets a little mean when she has to wait too long." I said meekly, my cheeks must have been a completely new shade of red that I had never felt before because they had never been this hot. Both of them turned around to face me at the same time with identical grins. Edward let his eyes travel from my head to toes, nodding in approval. Mackie giggled probably at the sight of me in the massively large sweat pants and Edward's shirt. She seemed very pleased with herself. She ran upstairs to get her bag leaving Edward and me alone.

"You look adorable in those clothes. You can keep them. I don't think I could wear them knowing that you will always look better in them." Edward was grinning like an idiot now stumbling over words.

"They're the most comfortable clothes ever. Are you sure you don't want them? Seriously I can bring them back tonight, I wouldn't mind." I was embarrassed by his approval of the outfit. He just looked at me with a smug look on his face.

"No. Keep them. I like having my name on you. It looks like it belongs. It just looks right to me." He said, now that he had gained his confidence. Mackie came running down the stairs pulling my arm out the door.

"Bye Eddie! We'll be home later to watch a movie. Come over to hang out!" Mackie called half way out the door.

"Thanks again for the clothes, _Eddie."_ I returned his smug grin and he just laughed; his velvety voice erupting with laughter.

"No problem at all, _Isabella._" Touché. I giggled and was pulled into the car.

I brought Mackie back to the house and she ran right up to Rosalie to play with her hair. She briefly said a big hello to Alice while Rose went to go get a hairbrush and some hair ties. Alice noticed my outfit and I explained the whole story to both her and Rose, who began humming the wedding march under her breath. Alice shrieked with joy and Mackie gave Rose a high five and a hug.

Shopping was uneventful. Alice forced me into buying some shoes, one pair way too dangerous for me to wear and the other were a pair of boots I would probably wear constantly. By the end of the day, after a long day of Edward and Bella jokes, wedding plans for a hypothetical wedding and tons and tons of bags, we were heading back to the apartment. After dropping off Alice and Rose and making plans to do this again, I grabbed my over night bag and went back to Mackie's house.

Edward was already inside setting up movie night when we got home. Instantly Mackie ran up to him begging him to let her show him what Alice got her. He gave in and I laughed, continuing to grab blankets and pillows. Once they were all done, they came and joined me in the family room. Edward was now in a pair of grey sweatpants and a black hoodie. Still looking just as amazing as this morning.

"So what movie should we watch, ladies?" Edward asked facing Mackie and me. I looked over at Mackie and shrugged, not caring what we watched. Edward looked like he knew what was coming and was already looking for the DVD.

"FINDING NEMO!" She screamed.

Edward put the movie on and sat on the couch near me. Mackie curled up in the papasan chair in the corner. I basically had this movie memorize but some parts still made me jump. We were five minutes into the movie when I realize Mackie was asleep then and nudged Edward in the side. He was getting really into the movie and I knew I couldn't lift her myself. He followed my eyes and got up to move her up to her bed. I brought some of the dishes into the kitchen and returned to the couch. I continued watching the movie when Edward sank back into his previous spot next to me on the couch.

"You really do look adorable in those clothes." He was not going to let me forget that I was wearing his clothes, still. I smiled in response. He turned to face me, "Isabella, do you want to take Mackie to the zoo tomorrow? It could be something fun for the three of us to do together. I'm sure you've already discovered her obsession with the two of us." He was pleading with his eyes now, I knew he really wanted me to go but I couldn't figure out why. I am so plain compared to Edward. What could he possibly see in me?

"Sure. I love the zoo. My…mom…never really took me to the zoo when I was younger. Instead she beat me senseless." I said the last part of this to myself hoping he wouldn't hear me.

"SHE WOULD HIT YOU?" Oh god. He heard, and was no freaking out. I explained the whole story but this time I began to cry when I got to the part about the scar on my jaw. He put a finger on my jaw and traced it all the way down my neck to my shoulder, even though the scar stopped from my ear to my chin. When his hand rested on my shoulder he pulled me into him and I fell into his chest letting his strong arms wrap around me. "No ones going to harm you now, Bella. Not if I have anything to do with it."

That was the last thing I heard before I must have fallen asleep. I had my back pressed up against his chest lying down watching Finding Nemo before I drifted into dreamland.

I woke up still on the couch but now turned in facing the chest that the strong arms were coming from. I looked up to see Edwards eyes still shut and his breathing shallow. I snuggled back into his chest pulling the blankets higher over my body suddenly chilly. He must have noticed in his unconscious state because he pulled me closer to his body, if that was even necessary and held me tighter. I felt slight pressure on the top of my head and realized he kissed my hair. I was falling so hard for this guy. But it could never happen. We were on completely different levels. He was rich, and beautiful and perfect. And I was plain old Bella, the girl who had the troubled past, the frumpy features and student loans through the roof. I refused to let myself think about that and focused on cuddling into him before he woke up and realized what he was doing. I drifted in and out of sleep until it was about 8 in the morning.

I opened my eyes only to be greeted by green eyes staring at me. "Edward you should have slept in your bed last night. You're driving all the way to San Diego tonight, you didn't need to stay here." I really didn't want him to do the whole four-hour drive with a backache just because he didn't want to wake me up.

"You have no idea how bad I wanted to stay though. You are quite amusing when you sleep. And a very snuggly sleeper to say the least." He said this still staring into my eyes while I blushed and buried my head into his chest hiding my blush from him.

All of a sudden there was a thud and both of us felt the weight of an 11 year old girl flinging herself onto us. Guess Mackie was awake. She looked very smug finding Edward and me in this position.

"Mackie, Bella has agreed to go to the zoo with us today but we would have to leave soon and stay over night in San Diego. Would you still like to go?" He already knew her answer but asked anyways. She ran right upstairs to start packing her over night bag and getting dressed for the day. Probably wearing one of the new dressed that Alice had bought her yesterday.

Edward and I still hadn't moved from the comfort of our blanket nest. "Bella, do you need more clothes for our over night adventure?" He was all too excited about getting me into his clothes again, not that I changed last night out of the sweats but I don't think he wanted me back in my own clothes.

"Something to sleep in would be nice." I had realized that I only brought an outfit for today and tomorrow. Completely forgetting to bring something to sleep in. He gave me another tight squeeze and kissed my forehead and disappeared up the stairs. I quickly changed into my white shorts and purple lacy tanktop. He came back down a few minutes later, once I had folded up all the blankets and stacked our pillows, holding a big black bag.

"I threw some stuff in here for you." He said motioning to the bag. I thanked him and we waited for Mackie to come downstairs while we packed up my truck. We figured it would be easier to fit everything in my truck than Edward's Volvo. The back seat was also big enough for Mackie to spread out and take a nap if she wanted. Edward took the car for a few spins around the neighborhood to make sure he knew where all the buttons where on the car.

Once he got back Mackie was all ready to go in her pink sundress that her and Alice had bought. I was right. She had on gold flip-flops too. She looked absolutely adorable. She was bouncing off the wall she was so excited.

"Yay! Lets go Eddie!" She climbing into the back seat, which Edward had put blankets and pillows all over making it a little sleep haven. After we stopped at Ihop and had breakfast, we hit the road again and by the time we made it to the highway Mackie was sound asleep. I felt my eye lids drooping every so often and didn't want to leave Edward the only one awake in the car.

I felt his hand on my knee and he whispered, "Isabella, go to sleep. I can see your eyes drifting from here. Here." He reached around and grabbed his old, battered hoodie. Once again it said CULLEN on it. I'm starting to think all of his clothing has his name on it. I curled myself up in it and mumbled a thank you. He kept rubbing my thigh never going more than a comfortable length up but enough that it was coaxing me into a deep sleep.


	7. From My Heart to Yours

**Chapter 7...woo! I hope you love it. Its the scene from the teaser. Please review. I love reviews. **

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Bella POV

"We're here!" Mackie yelled, forcing me out of my coma-like sleep. I looked around to see Edward giving me an apologetic glance. "Bellsy! You're awake! We're finally here! The San Diego Zoo, can you believe it?" She was talking so fast I didn't even realize she had just called me Bellsy.

"Sorry. I figured I could keep her asleep until we were parked. Then she just woke up a few seconds ago right as I pulled into the exit ramp." He said to me not taking his eyes off the road. He rubbed my shoulder for a second, giving me a pat on the back and then returned his hand to the wheel. I was still half asleep, and then I realized I had been out the entire car ride. I had a knack for sleeping in cars.

"Bellsy, what's your favorite animal? Mine's the polar bear! I can't wait to see them!" Mackie was absolutely glowing. I turned around to look at her and she was contently wrapped up in blankets surrounded by pillows.

"I like the gorillas. What about you, Eddie? I bet you like the big macho animals. Let me guess…your favorite is the lion." I was teasing him, only because I didn't want him to catch on how in love I was with him.

"Actually, you're right. The lions are my favorite. They can be completely graceful, yet absolutely dangerous at the same time." Well. I didn't think I was that good at guessing.

Soon enough, we were in a parking spot and all hopped out of the car. I peeled Edward's sweatshirt off seeing as how it was well over 80 degrees at this point. Mackie ran over to me and grabbed my hand in her left hand and took Edwards hand in her right. The three of us walked into the park like that, occasionally supporting Mackie's weight so she could jump into the air. Sometimes it was easy to forget that I was just the nanny and not actually part of this happy family.

We reached the ticket counter and Edward automatically paid for all three tickets. "Edward, I can pay for mine own its fine. You don't need to pay for me." I hated when people spent money on me. It made me feel awkward and uncomfortable.

"Now, Isabella, don't be absurd. I already paid for it. Don't insult me and refuse to take it from me." He said, sternly, he wasn't going to let me pay for this and soon I gave up trying to. I curtly said thank you and he took Mackie's right hand again.

As soon as we walked into the zoo, a photographer dressed as a park ranger came up.

"Let me get a picture of the happy family." He said.

"Oh we're not-" I was just about to explain we weren't a family when Edward cut me off.

"Oh, c'mon babe. It'll look great on the Christmas card." Edward winked at me and Mackie giggled looking up at the two of us. Before I knew it, Edward was wrapping his arm around my waist pulling me close to him. Mackie was positioned perfectly in between Edward and me holding on to our free hands. Mackie was still giggling when the picture was taken and I grabbed the receipt from the man to redeem our picture later. I was shaking my head at Edward as Mackie ran up to get a map so she could plan our whole entire day. I swear sometimes it felt like I was back with Alice when I was near Mackie.

"Lets go! Eddie stop staring at Bellsy so we can go see the polar bears!" I instantly blushed when she said this and looked down at the ground. I heard Edward nervously chuckle and I knew without looking up he was running his hand through his perfectly messy hair. She pulled us both to the first exhibit and we walked through the house of birds.

I have an irrational fear of birds and found myself looking at the floor the entire time. Edward must have sensed my tension because he put an arm around my shoulder laughing the entire time.

"Is little Bellsy afraid of the big, bad, birds?" He was so beside himself in laughter at this point that I hit him in the side.

"Shut up! Have you ever seen Birds? Honestly I like my eyes, I would rather they not be pecked out by some freaking flying demon." It was taking all the I had in me not to run straight out of the birdhouse and wait for them outside but I didn't want to ruin everyone's fun.

"Well, we couldn't have that. I like your eyes too much for them to get pecked out. I'll protect you from the birds, even if they are inside glass cages with really no chance of getting out. If by some miracle one does, I'll make sure it doesn't get you." He was mocking me at this point and it was not appreciated. I elbowed him in the rib one last time before we ran over to Mackie where she was waving us over.

"Lookie! This ones pink! And only has one leg! Eddie, why doesn't it have two legs?" Mackie was in front of the flamingo cage. She saw Edward's arm around my shoulder and made kissing noises.

"They're pink because they eat shrimp and it turns them pink. And they have two legs one is just tucked up and around their belly." Edward, sounding a little annoyed, was reading off of a stand right on the glass cage that I guess Mackie didn't see.

"OH! Mountain lions! Lets go over there!" She was the spaciest little kid I have ever met. One minute we would be looking at the birds and the next minute we would be running towards the lions and the big cat section.

Once we were outside of the birdhouse, I assumed Edward was going to retreat his arm and cause me to feel empty again. I felt like I meant something when he was touching me. He didn't remove his arm; he only leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Are you afraid of the mean lion too, cause I would be more than happy to keep you safe from them too. Then again with your clumsiness and the simple iron cages around them I might want to hold on to you." He pulled me closer and looked down at me and flashed his amazing crooked grin.

"You know, if I didn't know any better I would think that you're the one who needs someone to hold on to." I had no idea where this bit of courage was coming from but it made Edward laugh.

"Maybe I just want to hold you." And with that last comment I blushed a deep red, highly embarrassed by his _need_ to hold me. We remained in silence, not an awkward one but a comfortable quiet, until we reached up with Mackie, who was already standing up against the fence.

"Mackie, you need to stop running away from your brother and I. Someone might take you from us. You don't want that. Please stay closer to us." My motherly instinct was kicking in and Edward gave me a quick thanks and a small squeeze.

"Bella's right, Mack. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if someone took you from me. From us." He said looking directly at me.

"Yeah, Yeah. I'll stay closer, I promise okay? But look at the daddy lion! He's playing with the babies while the mama hunts! They're a family!" She was staring at the two of us. "Kind of like us. We're a family. I like our little family. It used to be just Eddie and me, that was okay but this, Bellsy, this is a family."

"I like us too. We're not all that bad." I said bending down to give her a hug. That was the only time of the day Edward took his arm off my shoulder. We made our way around the whole zoo, stopping only for lunch and to pick up our new family picture. We had saved the polar animals for last so that we could end with the polar bears. We were standing at the penguin exhibit watching the penguins slip and slide in and out of the water for quite a while. Mackie was really amused by their playful attitudes.

"You know, penguins are one of the only animals that mate for life." Edward whispered in my ear, leaning around me with a hand on either side of me. Mackie was beside us looking out into the cage of penguins smirking to herself.

"Is that true?" I was trying to keep it together while he was standing behind me that close. Our bodies were touching and I felt it; the bolt of electricity that Alice had been talking about. I wanted so badly for him to kiss me right there and then, to tell me that he couldn't live without me and he loved me.

"They find that perfect soul mate and then they find the prettiest pebble and give it to that special penguin as a token of their love. Geez Bella, haven't you ever seen The Pebble and the Penguin?" I was still wrapped up in his arms with his cool breath blowing on my neck. I shuddered as his sweet smell engulfed me. This was perfection. Before I could answer he was already untangled from me and was heading towards a gift store.

I hung out with Mackie while Edward was off doing something. I got us two snow cones not knowing when Edward would come back and we walked off towards the polar bear exhibit. We were standing on the pass way above the big tank watching the bears play with the balls when I felt something cool slide around my wrist.

I flinched at first not knowing what it was, almost dropping my snow cone into the tank. I looked down at my wrist and saw a small silver chain now clasped to me with a penguin charm on it. The penguin had a little diamond in its mouth. I looked up at Edward to see him smiling at me and before I could react, he was wrapping a big stuffed monkey around Mackie's shoulders. I listened to her squeal with delight but I was still fixated on the penguin dangling off my wrist.

"The pebble and the penguin. Finding its true soul mate, falling in love." He was looking me straight in the eye while he was speaking. His eyes were burning with some unknown emotion. Then there was an ear-shattering scream.

It was Mackie. I dropped my snow cone and took off looking for her. Edward looked at me when we couldn't find her and I could see the worry flash across his face.

"We'll find her, Eddie. Don't worry. We'll find her." And with that I took all the courage I had and kissed him very quickly on the cheek. He smiled weakly and then we saw her. She was holding some strange mans hand and walking away from the polar bears.

"HEY!" Edward screamed and took off running but as soon as the man saw Edward he picked up Mackie and was off running too. I picked up the dropped stuffed animal and I ran behind Edward, tripping only a few times, mainly determined just to get to Mackie. Edward was running really fast now and I wasn't fast enough to keep up. He turned around and I nodded giving him the okay to run without me. And that was it. I was alone. Running through the San Diego Zoo, like a complete nut case. I didn't care about the stares I was getting or anything like that I just wanted Mackie back. I wanted our little family back.

I kept running, tripping a few times. I could feel little beads of blood running down my knees from where I had hit the gravel. My hands were a little scrapped up too. After about ten minutes of running I heard her scream again. I must have been close. Then I heard a loud groan and fear flashed before my eyes. I ran right up to Edward and Mackie. The zoo police now securely held the man who had taken Mackie back and then I saw him. Edward was lying on the ground clutching on to his arm, he was the one groaning in pain. Mackie ran up to me sobbing, as I pulled her into my arms.

"Bellsy. I am so sorry Bellsy. He told me I could pet the polar bear. He told me that you said it was okay. Bellsy I'm really sorry. You can do anything, take away the TV, not let me hang out with Alice and Rosie, anything just don't quit. I love you Bellsy. Eddie loves you. We need you in our family." She was crying harder and I began to cry too.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mackie. I love you guys too. It's going to be okay, he's not going to get you anymore. No ones going to be mad at you. I promise. I love you. I'm so happy you're okay." She clung to me like I was a life preserver. "You are a sick, perverted man. I hope you rot in jail." I spat at the man who was now handcuffed to a bench with police surrounding him.

Mackie and I were sitting with Edward. He was still in an unbearable amount of pain and you could tell from the tears that were welling up in his eyes. Mackie was sitting on my lap, still crying, as was I. All three of us were crying but I decided that I needed to be stronger for Mackie and for once, Edward. I reached out and touched his cheek, and put my hand under his chin pulling his face up towards mine. I looked him in the eye and caught the tears that were streaming down his face at this point.

"Don't leave. Please. Just don't leave me." He needed me just as much as I needed him. I kept my hand on his cheek, still wiping away tears.

"I'm not going anywhere, Edward. I'm not leaving you. It's going to be fine, I promise. The ambulance is on its way now. It won't hurt after that." I was trying so hard to keep it together because I knew that he needed someone to lean on right now.

"Bella, it hurts. It hurts so bad." He looked up at me, his eyes blood shot from crying and his usually velvety voice was scratchy probably from all the yelling.

"Miss, the ambulance is here now." A police officer came back and taped me on the shoulder. I thanked him kindly.

"Eddie, the ambulance is here now. It's going to be okay. It won't hurt so badly anymore. I won't leave you." I was beginning to lose it again, my eyes pooling with tears as I watched him get helped on to the stretcher.

"Immediate family only, miss. I'm sorry." The paramedic looked at me briefly then turned back to assist with Edward.

"She is, she's my wife. Don't make her stay here. I don't want to be without her and our daughter." Edward managed to get out, staring straight at me. He was still guarding his arm with his body from the paramedics. One of the paramedics waved Mackie and me into the ambulance and I stood up holding Mackie against my hip. We sat on Edwards good side and I let Mackie, who had now cried herself to sleep behind me on the bench. I sat forward so I could try and comfort Edward. I took his good hand in mine and pressed my forehead to his. I looked straight into his eyes, both of our eyes spilling with tears.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine. You need to let the doctors try and help you." I knew exactly what was wrong though. From my premed training I saw his arm and knew that the break was bad. It was probably bad enough that the bone was now in two pieces.

"Bella, I love you." I figured it was part of the whole wife charade. And just giggled, wishing terribly that he meant it and wasn't just trying to keep up appearances. I wanted so badly for him to mean those words. I stayed in that position with my forehead pressed against his trying my hardest to sooth him.

We got to the hospital and they assessed Edwards arm, only after giving him tons and tons of painkillers. I was right. Broken clean in two. Thankfully the break was a clean one and it would be able to reset itself with a cast. Edward groaned at the thought of getting a cast.

"Shush, Eddie. It's much better than the alternative of getting screws and bolts drilled in your arm bone." I said blushing at my confidence. I had finally gotten the tears to stop in the ambulance and was able to carry Mackie into the room they brought Edward to. I curled Mackie up on one of the chairs letting her sleep; she had a rough day.

Edward never let go of my hand the entire time the doctor was setting the bone. He looked straight into my eyes the entire time and I saw the pain linger deep in his green eyes. He picked a blue cast, claiming it was his favorite color on me. I rolled my eyes and reminded him he didn't have to pretend I was his wife anymore.

"What if I like to? Huh? How about I take you out on a first real date sometime?" He said that so fast looking at the door the entire time almost as if he was afraid of my response.

"I would love to go on a real date with you Edward. Whenever you feel up to it again. You are sure as hell not pushing that arm because of me. I can wait." I said blushing not looking at him either.

I called Esme and Carlisle when the doctor came back in to check on Edward. They're concerns were washing after about an hour of reassuring them that Edward's arm was fine and just in cast, and that Mackie, the biggest concern, had been checked out by the doctor and unharmed. They spoke to Mackie and she kept saying she was fine and that I was taking good care of her. Finally they decided that it was better for us to get a hotel room and stay over night in San Diego, and then make our way back in the morning. They would come home early tomorrow from their trip but seeing as how it was already 11 at night it would have to wait in till the morning.

"Isabella, I presume?" A doctor came out of Edwards room, "I'm Edward's doctor, and I offered to drive you guys back to your car as long as Edward doesn't drive." "That would be great. Thank you." I hadn't even thought about how we would get back to the car, I guess I was just figuring we would get a taxi.

"Anything for friends of Carlisle. I went to med school with him back in the day." He quickly left saying something about keys and a coat and I walked back into Edward's room.

"So you're not allowed to drive." I was now just taunting him, he liked to be in control of the car. This would be fun if he wasn't in such pain. He just stuck his tongue out at me and we made our way to the doctor's car. Once we got back to the zoo Mackie, who was now wide awake, climbed into the back and grabbed a blanket, trying her hardest to wrap it around Edward.

He pulled her into a hug, well a one armed hug, and thanked her for the blanket. It was rather chilly out and I felt a shiver run down my spine as soon as the wind blew. I suddenly felt something hit me and reached up to grab the flying sweatshirt. It was the same one from before. I thankfully pulled it on and hopped in starting my truck. We drove around until we found a suitable hotel, not some sleazy motel. I pulled into the parking lot of a Ritz Carlton.

"Edward. Seriously? This is too much. I'm sure there is a Marriot somewhere around the corner. This is a little extravagant don't you think?" I honestly could not believe he wanted to stay here of all places just for a total of about 12 hours.

"Isabella, please don't fight this one. It's been a long day." He sighed and I immediately felt bad about bringing it up. It had been a long day.

Edward went inside to get the room, and I stayed at the car pulling everything out that we would need. Mackie had fallen back asleep nested in the sea of blankets. Edward came back out and handed me a room key. He picked up Mackie with his one good arm and hugged her to his hip. Silently I grabbed the bags and we made our way up to our room. I noticed that there were only two beds in the room and began worrying about what to do. Edward laid Mackie down on the one bed tucking her in; all with one arm and then threw a pile of clothes at me. I walked into the bathroom pulling on another pair of Edward's sweatpants on, keeping the sweatshirt I already had securely over my body.

I stepped out of the bathroom and Edward was crawling under the covers turning the TV on. I looked around and was about to move into bed next to Mackie when Edward chuckled.

"She'll beat you in her sleep. Literally she flails like her life depends on it. Come here you can share a bed with me. It's fine I don't have cooties or anything." He teased, patting the empty side of the bed. I crawled under the sheets fluffing my pillows and snuggling into them.

"Thanks. I expect the best behavior from you though Edward." He laughed as I mentioned this and saluted me. I sighed and turned off the light lying back down. I finally stopped moving and recounted all the things that happened today. That was when I lost it. All the tears I had held in trying to be strong, they were all over my pillow now as I was sobbing. "How did this happen? We were so perfect. Everything was perfect. This isn't fair." I was rambling on when Edward pulled me closer to him so his good arm was around me and my head rested on his chest.

"Bella, please don't cry. We're all fine. It's going to be okay." He tried reassuring me pulling me close into his side. I buried my face in the crook of his arm and kept crying, a little less than a sob now but still crying. I would occasionally feel him kiss the top of my head. His arm running up and down my side while I continued crying. I don't know how long we stayed like that, both of us unmoving, completely still. I remember the TV being shut off and Edward moving us so we were lying down more flat instead of our propped up state. Then I drifted off.

I woke up in Edward's arms for the second time and I knew that this was it. This was what love felt like. Mackie was awake and I told her that she should go ahead and take a shower before we go home. Once Mackie was in the shower I kissed Edwards neck and watched his mouth turn upwards into a smile. I snuggled back into his chest wishing I could stay there forever.

"Edward it's time to get up." I was running my hand along his chest trying to gently wake him up. When he didn't respond to that I figured it was time to take drastic matters. I made sure his broken arm was out of the way and jumped on him so I was straddling his lap. I began tickling him until his eyes finally opened full of emotion. God he was adorable.

"Time to go buddy-boy." I got up, blushing, and decided I would just drive home in the sweats. Mackie was now out of the shower and redressing in her pajamas as well. Edward came out of the bathroom next in a pair of gym shorts and a baggy zip up hoodie. He looked amazing as usual, even in raggy old clothes. "Ready to go home?" I asked looking up at the two of them. They nodded and we made our way down the hallway to the elevator.

Edward's hand grazed mine a few times and then he finally must have mustered up the courage and he grabbed it. I smiled to myself, probably blushing deep red, as we continued down the elevator and into the car. We stopped for breakfast at a local diner and finally were on our way home. Mackie fell asleep after about an hour or so, but Edward fell asleep within 15 minutes of being in the car.

We got home around 5 in the afternoon and I helped them unload the car. I said my goodbyes and was about to get back into my car when I heard Edward call my name. I turned around quickly only to be embraced by the greek god.

"Thank you for everything, Isabella." He kissed my forehead and looked at me smugly. "And I'm holding you to our date." He grinned his beautiful crooked grin and retreated back into the house. It was confirmed. I was madly in love with Edward Cullen.

**SOOOO i thought it would be fun if finally it was bella doing the saving. just to change it up a little bit. hope you loved it! please please please review p****eople! **

**love **

**n**


	8. Cant Keep No Good Boy Down

**Hope you guys like it! Please Review. You guys were awesome at reviewing last time!! **

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Bella POV

It had been a week now since the accident at the zoo. Our three men little family kept doing odd little things today including day trips to the Santa Monica Pier and bringing Mackie to Venice. Of course there was the time we would spend with Alice and Rosalie, which was based off of shopping in Beverly Hills and playing dress up back in the apartment. But tonight was the night. Edward had waited this time to heal a little bit more before I allowed him to take me on our date. And that was tonight.

Everyone was over at the house, well everyone as in Alice, Rose, Mackie, Jasper and of course, Emmett. Jasper and Emmett brought video games and just sat in the family room playing with those while the girls looked at me with greedy eyes. Only Mackie knew where Edward was taking me, only so she could tell me what to wear and from the looks of it I could tell she told Alice and Rosalie. It was around 3 and Edward said he was coming at 7. That left four hours of being attacked by the army forming in Alice and my bedroom.

"Bella, you go and take a shower. Shave your legs do whatever you need to do. Rose, you go into your room and get all of the stuff ready to make her hair look hot. I'll get all the makeup and clothes ready for her." Alice was now in drill sergeant mode and if you dared to cross her now, well lets just say it was your funeral.

"What about me?" Mackie whined and pouted at Alice.

"Mack, why don't you come with me and get the hair stuff. Maybe Uncle Emmett will take you to get ice cream if you're really good." Rose always knew how to make Mackie smile. Mackie adored Emmett, it was really rather funny. Watching the two of them together was adorable. Mackie was just so small compared to Emmett that it was funny.

"YAY! Emmie we get to hang out!" And with that she took off out of our room not looking back at Alice or me. We had officially been ditched. I laughed as I walked out into the kitchen to turn on the coffee pot. I was going to need some type of reinforcement and it looked like I was in it for the long haul.

"Bellzo, mind if I take the Mackster to go get some ice cream?" Emmett now had Mackie on his back and they were spinning around my living room. I could only imagine the destruction they were leaving.

"Please, Bellsy? I loooooove ice cream!" Mackie was throwing her head back and laughing while Emmett continued to spin. Then he abruptly stopped looking a little green.

"Sure go ahead. We just have to get you home by 6 so you can hang out with Mom and Dad tonight." I said, thinking of ways to get the green Emmett out of my house as soon as possible.

"I'll just drive her home when we're done, Bellzo. One less thing for you to worry about with the big night ahead of ya, if you know what I mean." He winked at me. Mackie jumped off his back and ran to give me a hug goodbye and told me to have fun tonight with Edward. They left leaving poor Jasper sitting alone in the family room. Yet Jasper looked unfazed by the whole situation and just went back to playing video games.

I hopped in the shower soon after they left, letting the hot water run down my back through my long hair. The scent of my strawberry shampoo always calmed me down and now I was thankful for that. I spent about twenty minutes in the shower making sure that every hair was gone from my legs and that my hair was super clean before turning the water off and stepping out. I wrapped my big fluffy bathrobe that Alice had gotten me for Christmas around me and stepped out. To get back to my room I had to pass through the living room, knowing very well that Jasper was sitting in there.

"Good luck, Bella. You're probably going to need it." He didn't look up or say anything about me being in a towel like Emmett would have. He just waved me off into the bedroom as he got up I could only imagine to raid my fridge.

As soon as I got back into my room Alice and Rose forced me into Rose's room where the big vanity mirror and chair we had were set up. Alice turned on NSYNC while Rose began attacking my head with hairbrushes. Alice brought me back a cup of coffee.

"If you're going to drink this, drink it before I put lipstick on you. Really this is no night for mistakes." Alice was getting so fussy over everything just for this one little date that Edward and I had.

"Alice, its one date. Its not like he's proposing to me. Besides he's seen me with no make up on first thing in the morning, I'm sure a little imperfect lipstick would be better than that." I giggled to myself remembering the feeling of waking up in his arms the night on the couch and then again the night in San Diego.

Alice just scoffed at my "ignorance" as she called it. After about an hour and a half Rosalie was done, but they had turned the chair so I wasn't looking into any mirrors not allowing me to see myself until after makeup and the dress was on. It was now around 5, NSYNC had been turned off and we were now all watching Parental Control, while Alice was doing my make up.

"Bella, hold still. Do you really want me to smudge this all over you?" She was putting some type of junk on my eyes. I really hated this part but it always made my eyes pop. Soon enough she was done with my make up and they were still shielding my eyes. I heard Alice run out of the room probably into our room to grab my outfit. She ran back in saying something to Jasper on the way into the room.

Her and Rose helped me step into the dress and helped strap my feet into the heels they picked out for me. I may be clumsy but heels weren't that bad. I was just much more comfortable in my flip-flops. I would just have to move a little slower than usual.

I turned to look in the mirror and was taken back by my reflection. My hair lightly fell around my shoulders and there was a blue flower pinned above my right ear. My dress was baby blue and fit me like a glove. It showed a bit of cleavage, enough to drive Edward crazy, but not enough to look like a hussy. I had no necklace on which was weird because Alice always put me in a necklace, but I had my penguin bracelet dangling from my wrist. My shoes were silver pumps, nothing too crazy but made my legs look long and muscular.

I looked almost perfect. I looked like someone who deserved to be standing next to Edward. I glanced over at the clock and realized it was 6:30. I quickly brushed my teeth and let the butterflies begin to take over my stomach. I was getting really nervous, my first date with Edward. Oh god. Okay Bella, breath. That's what I was chanting inside my head.

I heard a knock on the door and knew he was here. I walked slowly out of the bathroom and went to open it. Alice was now sitting on Jaspers lap and Rosalie was sitting on the armchair in the corner. All three of them were laughing at the TV. I opened the door slowly and was shocked at how amazing the person in front of me looked.

Edward had on simple khaki pants and a light blue and light green pinstriped button down shirt on. It was rolled up perfectly to his elbow, showing his muscular forearm on his left side and his blue cast on the other side. He had his good hand in his pocket and was casually leaning against my doorframe smiling. Before either of us could say anything Alice intervened

"Let me get a picture!" Alice had already jumped off of Jaspers lap and was running to our room to get the camera. I gave Edward an apologetic look and he took me into his arms.

"You are absolutely beautiful. How did I get so lucky?" He whispered into my ear and I could tell he smelled the flower as he was doing so.

"You clean up pretty nicely yourself. We could escape before my crazy roommate gets back if you want." I suggest hoping he would grab my hand and run. But instead he laughed.

"No Isabella, I wanna meet the infamous Alice and Rosalie everyone talks about. Besides that would be rude if we just left." He was such a gentlemen. He kissed my forehead and just as his lips touched my skin I heard the camera go off. Alice had gotten it on film. She made us pose in about ten different pictures before Rose finally saved us.

"Alice this isn't the freaking prom let poor Edward take her on the date before you scare him off and we did her hair and make up for nothing." After that Alice retreated back to Jasper's lap pouting. I took that as our perfect exit.

I grabbed Edward's hand and didn't look back. We got to his car slightly out of breath but still laughing. He opened my door for me and then helped me into the Volvo. He sped around to the other side and started the car. We drove for a little bit along the water, I watched as the waves rolled up against the shore. Tonight they didn't seem to be crashing forcefully along the shore but rather gently brushing up against the sand.

We stopped by a pier, one I had not recognized, yet all the piers looked very similar. Our car ride had been silent, the occasional how was your day, or small talk but majority of it was silence. A comfortable silence that you could lose yourself in.

"Bella, we're here." He said and walked over to get my door for me. He took my hand, I slipped my heels off, taking them in my hand and he led me down the beach on a trail of rose petals. I could not comprehend how they didn't blow away, but was in such awe that I didn't give it much thought. He brought me over to a picnic that had been set up on the sand.

"Edward, its perfect." I said looking up at him; I must have been glowing. I felt like I was glowing.

"I wanted it to be perfect, I want the world to be perfect for you Bella." We sat on that blanket laughing and eating the dinner that Edward had made, secretly I knew that Esme must have made it.

"Bella, would you like to dance?" He asked me, I heard no music and laughed.

"Edward, there's no music, anyways do you like your feet? You're already down to one arm, you don't need my clumsiness taking out your feet too." I was completely blown away by the idea of dancing with him I would most definitely injure one of us.

"Bella, you truly underestimate me." He bent down and pulled out a set of speakers from the basket and music began to play softly. "Just go with the flow, let the rhythm take you over, I promise you wont hurt me. I wouldn't allow it."

He stood up taking me in his arms, pulling me closely to his chest. My dress blew in the wind while Edward and I spun around the beach. I tucked my head under his and let him rest his chin on the top of my head.

"And when you're not a little boy anymore, when the world has taught you how to be a man…then you'll still make mistakes. But your family, all those good friends you've made along the way, will help you. And even though you'll think the world has gone out of its way to teach you all the tough lessons, you'll realize it's the same world that's given you your family, and the girl you love, you'll come to believe that no matter what happens, somehow the world will protect you, too. I get it now." He was mumbling under his breath and I tilted my head up to look at him.

"Understand what? Wait, wasn't that from Boy Meets World?" I was confused at what he was talking about the world and it protecting him. I just couldn't figure any of it out.

"Mackie and I stay up late some nights and watch the old reruns on TV. But think about it, every time I thought that the world was out to get me, or not playing fair; it all paid off; because that's the same world that brought me to you. And without you, my life would just go back to this pit of textbooks and nothing to make me smile or laugh. I would go back to my old ways of not really hanging around with my baby sister, back to the days when all I cared about was work. But with you, Isabella, I seem to have meaning, I have a purpose to get out and actually live my life. I'm 24; I've been acting like I'm in my 40s already. You brought life back to me." His eyes were over flowing with sincerity and I could tell he meant every word he said. He looked deep into my eyes before burying his head in the crook of my neck. I felt him breath in slowly and then smile on my skin.

"Bella, if you'll have me, I want nothing more than for you to be mine, for you to be my girlfriend." He looked up at me, probably just in time for my blushing to kick in. He ran a hand along my cheek looking at me longingly. He had really just asked me to be his girlfriend. Edward Cullen, Mr. X, he actually wanted me like I've wanted him. "Every since the day in the club, I've needed to be near you, to protect you, to hold you. I thought I would never see you again and live a life of darkness looking for you. But then you were there on my doorstep, right in front of me. I can't let you walk away from me like I had in the club." Well of course I was going to say yes, but Edward seemed to think differently as he looked, searching my face for any sign that would help him out.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend." I said smiling wrapping my arms around his neck giggling. My blush was deep red now, I could just feel it, which only made me blush harder. He picked me up off the soft sand and spun me around in the air, both of us were laughing carelessly as if we were the only people in the world.

"Bella, you just made me the happiest man in the world." He said, I made him put me down because I didn't want him to hurt his arm anymore. I couldn't even imagine what Alice or worse yet, Mackie, were going to say when I told them I was now the girlfriend of Edward Cullen.

He pulled something out of his pocket, I saw the blue box with the white ribbon. It was Tiffanys. "Now Bella, I know its soon, but I saw this and it made me think of you. And I know that you hate when people buy you things, but please just accept this, it means a lot to me."

He handed me the little blue box and I opened it. Inside was a beautiful silver ring that was held up on a silver chain. I picked up the ring turned necklace and ran my fingers over the blue stone that sat in the center of the stacked ring. Something caught my eye on the inside of the ring though. _Forever _was inscribed on the ring in perfect script. Opposite forever on the inside of the ring was _Love E_. I looked up at Edward with tears starting to fill my eyes. It was beautiful.

"Will you help me put it on?" Was all I could manage to get out, pushing the box towards Edward. He gently took the necklace as if it were made of sand and would vanish when he touched it. He walked to stand behind me as I took a deep breath. I felt the necklace wrap around my neck and Edward kissed my back where the clasp now laid. He wrapped his arms around me pulling my body closer to his.

"I hope you don't think its too much, or too soon. I just wanted you to know that when I say stuff like I want to hold you, or protect you, or need you, that I mean forever. That I can't see my life without you in it anymore Isabella." He sighed into my neck letting his breath run smoothly over my bare skin.

"It was probably more than you should spend on me, but I love it. It's perfect. Like you, like this." We were now sitting on the blanket again watching the sunset over the few surfers left in the water. I was sitting between Edwards legs, letting him play with my hair and laying my head against his chest rising and falling with every breath he took. He spun me around so that I faced him and wrapped his arms back around my body.

He leaned in closer to me searching my eyes for approval, which he must have found. He closed the gap between us and crashed his lips onto mine. It was gentle at first but soon enough it became rough as I wrapped my arms around his neck knotting my hands in his hair. His tongue grazed my bottom lip as I allowed for an entrance. All too soon he pulled away. Now he had fear written all over his face.

"Bella, please, forgive me. That was terribly rude of me. I didn't mean to rush things like that. I just couldn't stop. My need for you took over." He was looking down at the sand. I put my hand under his chin just as he had mine and lifted it up so I could look into his green eyes.

I gently kissed his lips moving slowly at first. I pulled back letting my lips slowly linger, barely touching his. I felt him grin under my lips as he pulled me back into his body.

"Race you." I whispered into his lips. He pulled back looking at me with a confused looked as I wiggled out of his arms. I took off running towards the water before he could get a word of protest in. We were both in the water now, in our nice outfits, splashing around laughing.

"You're going to pay for that Bella." I had just splashed him in the face as he leaned down to kiss me again. He had his back to the ocean holding me in his arms. Once again I wiggled out of his arms but this time I didn't run, I dove under the wave that was going to crash right on us. Edward turned around just in time to duck under the waves white crest and pulled me up to his chest.

"How about we go back to my house so you can clean up. Alice will probably kill me if I return you covered in seaweed and sand." He said, letting the waves role over our bodies as if we were one.

"I suppose you're right." We reluctantly got out of the water and cleaned up from our picnic and made our way back to the car. Edward showered me with kisses along the walk to the car. Once everything was loaded into the car, he pushed me up against it with his sexy crooked grin. I stood up on my tiptoes and kissed him. This kiss was just as eager as before filled with passion. It ended as quickly as it had started and we drove in silence back to Edwards apartment. He took my hand with his good arm and led me up the flights of stairs until we got to the very top, the penthouse, I should have known.

"So the showers in the back, through my room, grab anything you want out of the closet to wear. Bella…" Edward said.

"Yeah?" I wondered what surprise he would throw at me this time.

"Thanks for everything tonight. For saying yes, for taking my gift. For everything." Every word Edward said made me blush even more.

I walked to his bedroom and stopped at in the doorway, his room was amazing. He had a floor to ceiling window on the far wall, giving him the most breathtaking view of Manhattan Beach, on the other side he had his desk with the largest collection of CDs I've ever seen. There was a black couch, a flat screen TV and possibly the most comfortable looking bed in the entire world.

I didn't want to look like a fool so I contained myself and walked over to the closet. I dug out a pair of boxers and a gray hoodie. Once again the hoodie said CULLEN across the back, the main reason as to why I picked it. I made my way to the shower and quickly washed all the salt and sand off of me. I used Edward's shampoo and body wash, god I loved his smell. I didn't want to leave poor Edward waiting so I hurried up and got back to him.

He didn't hear me come in, obviously he was too engrossed by the fridge, so I snuck up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Bella, is that…is that axe I smell?" He turned around and wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me up on to the counter.

"Well I didn't have my own shower gel, I had to make do with your axe." I confessed slightly embarrassed and blushing a nice crimson red I was sure.

"Well I think you're cute." That was the end of the axe conversation. "Wanna watch a movie or something?" He asked. He was so adorable when he got all flustered.

"Mhm." I mumbled into his chest as he chuckled at my response. He led me around the apartment and I realized we were in his bedroom. "Already trying to get me into bed, huh Eddie?" I teased him, still not letting go of his side.

"You caught me, Isabella. Don't be ridiculous, I thought you just might be more comfortable than on my over stuffed couch." He let go of me to go set up the DVD player while I went and curled up in a blanket on his bed, suddenly realizing how cold I was.

"Room for two in that blanket, love?" He pouted looking awfully lonely.

"Mhm…" I said pretending to think about it. "I suppose." I moved over on his bed and laid down resting my head on his pillow. He curled up next to me pulling me close to his chest. He leaned his forehead down to mine and rubbed his nose against mine. I was looking up into his green eyes when I leaned up and we started kissing.

I felt Edward groan into my mouth and deepened the kiss. I hadn't even realized the movie was playing and I didn't care if I ever say the movie. I hitched my leg around his waist, as he pulled closer to me. But suddenly we both pulled away.

"Edward, I think we're taking things a little too fast." I said, out of breath for the heavy kissing before hand.

"I was just about to say that. How about I just hold on to you?" He always had the perfect solution for everything.

So there we lay, his forehead pressed up against mine, our noses slightly touching. His hands wrapped low around my waist, and mine playing with his messy hair. We were both nodding off when I heard it.

"I love you, Bella."

**Next chapters Edward's point of view thanks to a suggestion from a lovely reviewer! So review away lovers and the chapter will magically appear faster! **

**peace **

**n**


	9. Told You In A Whispered Song

**So, heres a little insight into our lover boy Edward. Its on the short side, but the next chapter will be a long one. SoCalGurl101 - thanks so much for the idea of Edwards point of view. I think its a fun little bit of the story. Hope you love it...Review a lot please! More inspiration for the next chapter! **

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Edward POV

As soon as my angel was asleep in my arms, I whispered I love you. I was too afraid that it would scare her off if I said it out loud. I did though, with all my heart. I loved Isabella Swan. I knew that she was supposed to be with me since the night we spent on the couch together. One day I hoped to propose to her, to make her mine forever. I needed to finish med school though; I wanted to give her the life of a millionaire, the life that everyone dreamed of. I would make sure she had everything she wanted, every top of the line surf board, every little thing she could dream of. I wanted to make that happen for her. I slept as a very happy man that night, with the woman of my dreams lying in arms and my future planned out.

Later that week, Bella and I took Mackie to the beach. We went to the beach right outside my apartment planning on having lunch back at my place.

"Eddie, are you dating Bellsy?" Mackie, who was now on my back, was being very suspicious of my approach towards Bella, which became gently and loving.

"Yes, I am, Mackie." I said looking up at Bella who was now blushing. I loved her blush. I loved that I could say something and make her cheeks turn to a crimson red. Bella walked ahead of us carrying the towels and some toys for Mackie's entertainment.

"Do you love her?" Mackie whispered to me, so hushed that I was sure Bella couldn't possibly have heard.

"I think so, Mack. But you can't tell Bella yet okay? She doesn't know yet." I whispered back, praying that Bella didn't hear me. I watched as Bella's long brown hair began to blow in the wind as we got closer and closer to the sea breeze. She was the most amazing girl I had ever met. She never ceased to impress me, not her personality, nor her body. Alice kept would keep putting her in more risqué clothing as we kept dating. Today, she had on a short white dress and underneath I assumed a simply blue bikini that she always wore. She was perfect. And she is all mine.

We settled down on the beach laying down a towel for Mackie and a towel for Bella and me to share. We sat down and Bella sat between my legs, letting me wrap my arms around her.

"Well let's go, love birds. I wanna go in the water!" Mackie grabbed Bella's arm and dragged her towards the water.

"Can't go in, Mack. Sorry. Doc said not to get the cast wet." I was actually said for once at this statement. I wanted to spend every minute with Bella. If only that bastard hadn't completely ruined my poor arm.

"Well…see ya Eddie!" Mackie called back to me completely unfazed. I watched as Bella turned around and mouthed, _sorry_, back to me and gave me the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. I returned her smile and sat up in the sand letting my feet dig in the hot grains in front of me.

Bella was amazing. She played with Mackie for a solid two hours out in that water. Every so often I would catch her looking back at me laughing. I watched her as she splashed Mackie and then dive under the water to escape Mackie's attack. Every so often, I would see her laying down in the waves, floating on top of the water with her eyes shut, letting the waves roll her up and down.

I wanted nothing more than to be out in the water next to her. I wanted to be holding her, telling her how beautiful she is. Not soon enough I saw them wading out of the water back towards the hot sand. Mackie jumped up on Bella's back almost knocking the both of them over. I leapt up to my feet getting ready to go catch them, when Bella steadied herself and winked at me. I remained standing wand waited for them to get to me. I took Bella in my arms forgetting Mackie was on her back. I opened my eyes to Mackie's big green eyes right in front of my face making kissy faces.

"How about we go get some food back at the house?" Bella suggested from under my arms. I could feel her lips moving against my bare chest.

"Sounds like a plan to me. How bout you Mack?" I asked Mackie already knowing her answer. She would never turn down a meal. I swear the girl has about four stomachs. Bella transferred Mackie from her back to my shoulders as we made our way back to the house. I grabbed Bella's hand while we walked across the beach. It was a quiet day at the beach so we left the towels and chairs there knowing we would be coming back down after lunch.

"So what do you to want me to make you for lunch?" Bella asked looking up at Mackie then letting her eyes meet mine. Her eyes were amazing. They were big pools of brown; I could easily stare into them all day if she would let me. I looked up at Mack and could tell we had the same idea.

"MAC AND CHEESE!" We both yelled at the same time. Bella laughed at our synchronization and squeeze my hand. I loved mac and cheese almost as much as I loved my Bella. I would never let Bella know this, well not yet. She would think I'm a crazy stalker or something like that.

"What am I going to do with you too?" She asked us giggling. She was lightly shaking her head from side to side making her hair sway gently.

"Love us! Just like you already do!" Mackie said simply. She said it like it was the most obvious answer and Bella was dumb for not seeing it.

"That I do. I love my little mac and cheese eaters." Bella was still laughing now and both Mackie and I joined her. It took us about three minutes to get off the beach itself and I set Mackie down so she could wash the sand off her feet with Bella at the showers. After making sure that there was no more sand on their feet Mack jumped up and down until Bella lifted her back onto her shoulders.

Soon enough we made it back to my house and I let Mackie jump off my shoulders and she ran right to the couch and grabbed a blanket.

"I'm tired. I'm really hungry though." Mackie was full of complaints right now and I was sure she was just tired from bounding around in the water all day.

"Okay, I'm making lunch right now. Edward wanna help me out in the kitchen?" Bella asked looking up at me. I was still holding her hand and began to pull her towards the kitchen.

"Don't do anything disgusting in there. Bella my brother has cooties, watch out." Mackie called from the couch were she was now watching Finding Nemo…again.

"Hmm, I wouldn't mind a few cooties." Bella whispered in my ear as I continued to lead her into the kitchen. As soon as we got around the corner where Mackie couldn't see her, I grabbed Bella into my arms and kissed passionately. I pulled back to look at my Bella and let my good hand twist up in her hair when my cast rested on her waist.

"God you're so beautiful when you get out of the ocean." I whispered thinking about the way the salt water made her hair curl around her face. "What did I do to get so lucky?" I was more or less asking myself, rather than Bella.

"Hmm are you going to distract me or help me make Mackie some food before she comes in here to supervise?" Bella asked with a small smirk playing on her lips. I bent down to kiss her again and she wrapped her arms gently around my neck.

"I guess we should make lunch." I said pulling away, but letting my lips move against hers as I spoke. We got out all the stuff to make mac and cheese every so often I would steal a kiss from the perfect girl in front of me.

"Okay, Edward, out of the kitchen. You're distracting me too much. All you do is dazzle me. Let me finish making lunch, I am the nanny around here remember?" She was softly shoving me out of the kitchen as I held my hands up pretending I was innocent.

"I dazzle you do I?" I chuckled and wrapped my arms around her and pressed my forehead to hers. "Am I dazzling you now?" I asked smoothly looking deep into her eyes.

"Y-Ye-Yes. Now out!" She shoved a little harder now against my stomach. I laughed and left the kitchen to join Mackie in my family room.

"Where's my mac and cheese?" Mackie asked looking up at me with her big green eyes. My sister was like a mirror image of me, with the bronze hair and the green eyes; I loved my sister to death. I wish I could go back and spend more time with her before Bella came along; I was beginning to feel guilty about the whole thing.

"Bella is finishing it in the kitchen." I said ruffling her hair. She scoffed at me and moved to the armchair next to the couch. "What was that for?" I asked. Then I got up from the couch and jumped on her tickling her in the sides. "Don't wanna sit next to your big brother, huh? Well we'll just have to do something about that."

I picked Mackie up and threw her over my shoulder spinning around listening to her light laughter. I heard Bella giggling over in the corner coming out of the kitchen with the biggest bowls of mac and cheese I have ever seen. I smiled my crooked grin at her as she calls it and hoped I was dazzling her. Mackie propped herself up on her elbows on my back and looked over at Bella.

"Yum mac and cheese! Eddie put me down!" Mackie began hitting my back and a put her back down on the armchair and she ran over to Bella. I suddenly realize how bad my arm hurt from playing around with Mackie. I winced in pain a little bit and then took a bowl from Bella and sat on the couch with her.

We watched some TV while we ate laughing at the kid shows that Mackie made us watch. We finished the mac and cheese and Bella brought the bowls back into the kitchen. Mackie had wanted to watch Enchanted so I put it on the TV while Bella was in the kitchen. She came back and snuggled into my side as I wrapped and arm gently around her. She rubbed my biceps on my bad arm knowing how relaxing that was to me.

Within thirty minutes the two loves of my life were both sound asleep. It must have been from all that time in the water today, I thought to myself. I gently untangled myself from Bella realizing we left all the stuff down on the beach. I got up and wrote a small note and left it for Bella on the counter.

_B, went to get the towels from the beach. You are adorable when you sleep. I should be back in 10 minutes. Keep my heart safe; I've left it with you. Always, E_

I walked out of my house and down to the beach after throwing a shirt on. I got to the beach in record time thinking about how great it would be to have Bella back in my arms. I got to our towels and chairs and began folding them. I looked out to the ocean and decided when I finally married Bella; it would be on a beach. She looks most at home on a beach and I want her to feel at home when we finally get married. A blonde girl approached me and kept staring at me from her new position up against a volleyball pole next to me.

"You are so sexy." I heard her say but just decided to ignore her and go back to planning my dream wedding with Bella. Just then the blond came over and touched my arm, it made me jump.

"Excuse me." I said trying to brush her off as politely as possible. She kept looking at me as I began to pile everything up to carry it home.

"I'm Tanya." She said extending her hand. God was she ever going to give up.

"Edward. I really have to be going though; I left my girlfriend sleeping back home. I need to get back to her." I said as I pushed past this girl giving up on being polite at this point.

"Hopefully I'll see you around." She called after me as I walked back up the hot sand.

"Doubtful." I called back, now severely annoyed at how this girl was throwing herself at me. She was nothing compared to my Bella. My beautiful Bella, who was sleeping right now on my couch. I got back to the house and left everything sitting on the front porch, I didn't really want sand all over my house, I didn't like to vacuum. I saw Bella now sitting upright on with a blanket wrapped around her. She had her back to me, watching Prince Charming on the TV rescue the princess.

I quietly walked around to the couch and kissed her cheek from behind, she jumped at the contact then realized it was me and relaxed.

"I woke up and you were gone. You should have woken me up, you shouldn't be carrying all that stuff by yourself." Bella scolded me. Having her premed degree was not in my favor. She knew everything I needed to do for a fast recovery and making me stick to it.

"Bella, I was fine. You looked too peaceful to wake up. Anyways you had a long day out in the water I wanted you to sleep." That I truly did. However I'm sure Tanya wouldn't have bothered me if the most beautiful girl was standing next to me.

"I called Alice while you were gone. She's acting strange. I can't figure what's wrong though." Bella sounded concerned as I wrapped my arm back around her letting her snuggle into my chest.

"I'm sure everything's fine." I said letting my hand run through her hair. It was Alice, she probably just missed a sale or something. "So what are your plans for tomorrow night?"

"Well, Alice kind of wants us to go on a triple date. It would be me and you, Alice and Jasper, and Rosalie and Emmett. We don't have to go if you don't want to though. I'm fine with anything as long as I'm with you." She sounded as if she was dreading the night. It would probably be a lot of fun. I mean I haven't really met Jasper or Emmett but from stories I've heard, Emmett was a blast and Jasper sounded like a guy I could really get along with.

"I'd love to go. Anyways it's about time you spent some time with your friends. I need to learn how to share you." I said kissing the top of her head. She sighed into my chest.

"Okay, then tomorrow at seven we're going to dinner and the probably going back to my house for a movie night or something like that." Bella said closing her eyes again leaning more into me, letting her legs intertwine with mine.

"Sounds perfect, love." I said. I pulled her chin up so I could kiss her lips once more and then I let her fall asleep. When I knew she was sound asleep I whispered another, I love you, into her hair. I wondered when I would ever be able to say those three words to her when she wasn't sleeping. I fell asleep too shortly after Bella, pulling the blanket over the two of us. This was how I wanted to stay for the rest of my life.

**Well there you have it. Next chapter will be the dreaded triple date. See what kind of horrible disaster Emmett can cause and how embarrassed our poor Bella will be. Until then.**

**love**

**n**


	10. All Your Reasons

**So heres the next chapter. The triple date. Poor Bella. Anyways read and review loves. **

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Bella POV

I had gone back home early in the morning before Mackie woke up. I was in need of some Alice and Rosalie time. I felt like I hadn't seen them in ages. And with Alice acting weird I had to get to the bottom of everything. I walked home since I didn't have my car at Edwards. It was about 5 in the morning and I didn't want to wake up poor Edward. Mackie had him up all night playing games, so I let him sleep. I left him a note saying that I had to go home for a little bit but that I would miss being in his arms. It wasn't a bad walk, maybe about ten minutes, and I walked along my favorite place in the entire world. The beach. I let the waves crash around my toes, every so often a big wave would consume my ankles too.

I got back to the house in no time and pulled my key out of my bag. I didn't want to wake anyone up so I went in the backdoor because I knew that the front door would be too noisy. I snuck upstairs silently and made my way into Alice and my bedroom. I saw her snuggled up to Jasper so I decided I would just grab a blanket and go sit out on the balcony.

It was still peaceful out and I couldn't get comfortable without Edward's arms around me. I got frustrated almost immediately and grabbed a board from my rack and stormed out to the beach. It was in between tides, I really had no hope of getting a wave at this hour but I just wanted to be in the water. I was glad I hadn't changed out of my bathing suit from yesterday and easily peeled my clothing off my skin. I did remember that the water was usually chilly in the morning so I grabbed my wetsuit off the front porch and pulled that on.

I strapped my long board around my ankle and wadded out into the water. I paddled out so I was about half way down the pier before stopping. The waves were still calm so I decided to prop myself up to a sitting position around my board. I watched as the sun rose across my beautiful ocean, making the most beautiful mix of colors I had ever seen.

I thought about everything that had happened. I was finding myself falling in love with Edward and I didn't know if it was too soon or if it was just a crush. I couldn't help but wonder if soul mates actually were true. That you're half of a puzzle and when that other half meets you there is nothing that could stop you two from connecting.

All of a sudden a wave started to form under me pulling me back to reality. I turned and paddled catching the one wave of the morning. I got a few whistles from other surfers that were starting to come out. I decided to call it a day, I got a lot of thinking done out in the water and now it was time to head back. I pulled my wet suit down half way so it hung around my waist. I hated the feel of them sticking to my back when they're wet.

I took my board under my arm and walked back to my house. It was about 6:30 when I got home; I was surprised at how fast the time went whenever I was on the water. I walked in and went to make myself a cup of coffee.

"Who the fuck is out there?" I heard Emmett yelled through Rose's shut door. "I've got a bat." I knew he didn't have a bat though because I knew for a fact that Rose doesn't keep sport equipment in her bedroom. He might, however have a garage tool such as a wrench or jack.

"Emmett it's just me." I said still trying to be quiet, god knew that my "breaking in" wouldn't wake Jasper. Emmett came out of the room anyways. He looked at me as I raised my hands up in the air.

"Em, who is it?" I heard a very annoyed Rose call from her bed.

"Just Bellzo, Rosie. Go back to bed." Emmett called back his booming laughter now filling the kitchen. I hadn't realized how much I missed my older brother figure. I had known Emmett for a long time, even before him and Rose got together, and ever since I met him, we had been like family. He picked me up in a giant bear hug spinning me around.

"Bellzo, why are you in a wetsuit? And soaking?" It must have clicked in his mind that I was out surfing because all of a sudden, "Since when on earth do you wake up early to go surfing?"

"I couldn't get comfortable here without waking up Alice and Jasper so I decided to take my board out." I said. "Can you please put the wrench down now?" I looked at the wrench nervously.

"Sorry Bellzo. Thought you were some creep trying to steal my Rosie away from me." He said looking innocent. He smiled at me and I nodded as he walked back into her bedroom again.

"Bella? Is that your voice I hear causing a ruckus in the kitchen?" Alice asked dancing out of her room, Jasper not too far behind her. "Bella it is you!" She came over and hugged me tightly. "I've missed having my rooms."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got caught up in everything with Edward and then working, it's just been really easy to crash over at Edwards." I said grabbing my cup of coffee and going to grab the milk from the fridge.

"So are you guys coming tonight or what?" She asked and I nodded in response, not trusting my voice to sound enthusiastic. "Yay! Now the three of us can go shopping for dresses tonight! Text Edward and tell him to dress nice." I needed a shopping day with the girls; I was beginning to feel like a stranger.

"Sounds good to me, Alice. Wanna go in like half an hour?" She nodded making a bowl of cereal and curling into Jaspers lap on the couch.

We were at the mall a solid hour later than planned. When I was in the shower Rose had fallen back asleep and refused to get up so we had to wait for her. We took my truck, only because it had the most trunk space and with the big date tonight, Alice was probably going to go crazy on the shopping.

"So ladies, what should we get first?" Rose asked us as we made our way into the mall.

"Lets get dresses first, then accessories. Well we need accessories, Rose; Bella on the other hand has that lovely necklace hanging off of her neck. Where'd you get that anyways Bella? It's gorgeous." Alice asked me looking at the ring necklace that Edward had given me on our first date. I had forgotten that I had it one. I never took it off.

"Oh," I said letting my hand play with the ring. "Edward gave it to me on our first date." I let them come and look at it closely, touching the blue jewel on it.

"I thought I saw you wearing a necklace the other day, I guess I just never put two in two together that you never wear necklaces. _Always just get in the way_." Rose mocked me.

"Oh. My. God. Bella does that say forever, love E on the inside?" Alice said now looking closely to the inside of the ring. Rose soon joined her in examining the ring and I laughed nodding. "Bell that's adorable. He is such a keeper."

"Oh I know. So, lets get this torture over with and find some amazing dresses." I knew how dress shopping with these two could get. They wouldn't give up until they found the best dress in the entire mall.

Three hours later we had all found dresses. Rose had found a black that had a low V neck and tightened around her thighs and dipped down in the back. Alice had a very modern dress in bright pink with a bubble bottom. It crossed in the back giving her an intense design across her back. And I had found an aqua silk dress that a had rhinestones all along the neckline, below my boobs and then down the back. The back was low cut, so low cut that we were going to have to go to Victoria's Secret to find some suitable underwear. The straps continued down the back but stopped about half way where they met the band from below my boobs. **(A/N: I'll put the dresses up on my free webs. Check it out.)**

"Girls that was perfect. Lets get some lunch before getting shoes." Alice decided she was hungry so we were all going to eat. We walked into the food court and split ways all wanting different things. I went to get Panda Express, Rose went to get Chipotle and Alice went to get In and Out Burger. We all met up though in the middle at our table.

"So, Bella, tell us about you and Edward. I feel like we haven't seen you in ages." Alice said and Rose sat up suddenly paying very close attention.

"Yeah, Bell, spill." Rose was now very intrigued and pressing for details.

"Well, he took me to the beach for our first date and after we went back to his house. Only because I decided to race him into the water and I needed to clean up. Then we fell asleep…" I gave them the recap of everything that had happened. They would occasionally awe at parts but they never interrupted me, that is until I got to the part about him whispering I love you when he thought I was asleep.

"Do you love him back?" Rose asked while Alice was still admiring my necklace and listening to my story.

"I don't know, Rose. I think I do but honestly we just started dating, can you really fall in love that fast?" I needed their opinions on this the most because they were my friends and would tell me the truth.

"It's called love at first sight, Bella. Do you feel the shock when he touches you, like grabs your hand or brushes hair out of your face." Alice asked.

"Yeah, Alice, I do. Guys, I think I'm in love with Edward Cullen." With that last statement they squealed and suddenly I was wrapped up in a group hug.

"It's about time our little Bella grew up." Rose was now cooing at me with a wide grin playing across her face.

"Let's not get distracted here. We still need kick ass shoes for tonight. Bella did you ever text Edward?" Alice asked me, suddenly I realized that no I hadn't.

"Shit." I murmured pulling out my phone, creating a new text and punching in his number.

To: Edward

From: Bella

**Hey E - Tonight is at 7. Just stop by the house so we can all go together. Alice said to dress nicely. I miss you. ;) B**

It took us another two hours to find the perfect shoes for our dresses. Finally after going in every store we had found them. Rose had a pair of cheetah print pumps with skinny gold heels. Alice went for a strappy sandal in a pink to match her dress; her shoes also had a skinny gold heel. My shoes were outrageous though. They were Rosalie and Alice's idea. They had a skinny clear heel and diamonds dangling off the ankle strap and across the top of my feet. It would be a miracle if I didn't break a bone tonight. All of a sudden I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

To: Bella

From: Edward

**B - I missed waking up this morning to you in my arms. I cant wait to see you at 7. You're absolutely beautiful did you know that? E**

I giggled to myself, showing the text message to Alice and Rose who both awed and then complained that their boyfriends never did anything sweet for them like that.

To: Edward

From: Bella

**E – 7 couldn't come any slower. ** **B**

It was now 5 when we finally left the mall. Alice and Rose pulled me into the bathroom for what I could imagine was more Bella Barbie time. By the end it was about 6:30 and I had to say I looked stunning. I looked like I deserved to be standing next to Alice and Rose. They had curled my hair and pinned pieces of it back with sparkly clips. My make up was light but brightened my face. The two of them managed to get dressed and ready to go while helping me.

Now I just had to sit there and wait. Jasper and Emmett were the first to show up. They both looked amazing. Well Emmett looked a little silly and Jasper's crazy blonde hair didn't really match up with the nice button down shirt he was now in. Emmett was as usually too big and was almost bursting out of his shirt.

As soon as they saw Rose and Alice they went crazy and ran over grabbing the respective girl. Emmett spun Rose around the living room while Jasper was more reserved and just whispered something into Alice's ear which made her giggle.

It was now more than ever that I missed not being with Edward all the time. Emmett however decided it was time to stop wishing Edward would hurry up and for us to have a drink. We all mixed our usual Malibu Rum with pineapple juice and a little cranberry juice. We held our glasses up all going around to make a toast as usual.

"To those dresses. You girls look hot." Emmett said. You could always count on his to not hold sentimental value.

"To sisters." Rose said looking straight at Alice and me.

"To friends." Jasper said, always keeping his short and sweet.

"To family." Alice said looking around at everyone.

"To falling in love." I said. And I meant it. As soon as I said it Edward walked in the propped opened door and looked around.

"Am I late?" He asked you could tell he felt bad, he kept looking from me to the clock on the oven to everyone else in the room.

"Not at all, my brother. Now have a drink before we go." Emmett said motioning for Edward to come join our circle. He poured him a drink and handed it to him, telling him it was his turn to make a toast.

"To Bella. For having me." Everyone awed as his said this and wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my cheek.

"Still rocking the cast, buddy boy?" Rose asked eyeing the blue cast that was showing out of his green button down shirt. I hadn't really noticed how amazing he looked. He had on a deep green button down and black dress pants. He looked absolutely perfect. With his arms still wrapped around my body, he let his one hand trail up and play with the ring necklace. We finished our drinks, letting Edward get to know everyone a little better and made our way to the cars. I was about to lock up and leave when Edward pushed me up against the door and kissed me with so much passion I couldn't take it.

"Where did that come from?" I asked breathlessly, still not letting my arms down from around his neck.

"It was cause I didn't get to kiss you in the morning when you woke up, beautiful." He leaned down and kept kissing my neck and jaw line, lightly tracing over my scar.

"Well I kissed you." I said smugly with a smile.

"Ah, so I didn't just dream that." He responded laughing into my shoulder. "Lets go before your friends hate me for stealing you." So we made our way down to the cars and got into Emmett's massive jeep.

We got to the restaurant and Emmett already ordered a round of pina colodas for the table. "So, Eddie Boy, how did you finally rope in our little Bellzo." Emmett was now acting like a father figure intimidating poor Edward.

"Well, we actually first met at a club. I pulled some drunk guy off of her but then she had to leave because I believe you were drunk." Edward said squeezing my knee under the table.

"Oh, sorry about that bro." Emmett said turning a little bit red.

"No worries, man. Anyways, then she started working for my family as my baby sisters nanny. There was this big run in at a zoo and Bella was there for me, which was when I realized I needed her in my life. Ever since the night on the beach she agreed to have me. I've been the happiest man since." Edward said proudly looking at me. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Well I hope you have a job or a way of supporting my little Bella." Emmett was now going a little over board.

"Em!" I said trying to get him to stop. I felt another squeeze on my knee.

"Its fine, Bella. And yes, I am going to graduate med school at the end of next year. I plan on keeping Bella very comfortable." Edward said, again another smug grin came across his face.

We all ordered as the small talk continued. I ordered mushroom raviolis and when the waitress got to Edward she twirled her hair and leaned down a little bit more. He ordered the same as me and wrapped a protective arm around my shoulder.

The night went on like that until Emmett and Alice decided it was time to bring up bad stories from my past.

"Oh god, remember that time Bella got her head stuck in the fence trying to see if the neighbor boy was outside shirtless?" Emmett was laughing hysterically now and Alice was in a fit of laughter as well. We were all pretty trashed at this point except Edward, Jasper and Rosalie.

"Hey. Hey. Hey. Alice told me that he thought I was cute. Alice remember the time we gave Emmett the makeover the first time he had a girl sleep over at the house." My words came out slurred but I didn't care. I had lost it. Just like Alice and Emmett, I was tearing up and holding my sides.

"Who remembers when Bella told Alice and Rose she loves Edward." Emmett said. As soon as the words left his mouth I got up from the table infuriated with him. I tried storming away but my heels wouldn't let me. So right there in the middle of everyone's dinner, I pulled my heels off and stormed out of the place a sloppy mess.

"Bella, wait please. Cmon just talk to me." It was Edward great. Not who I wanted to see right now. "Please Isabella?" I started running and he took off after me. Being the klutz that I am when I try to run, I fell. I instantly felt strong arms wrapped around me pulling me close to Edward's body.

"Edward. Please, that was not how I wanted you to find out." I was slurring all over the place. Not in control of any of my words.

"Let me just take you home, please Bella?" He brushed the hair out from around my eyes. He looked at me and I started to laugh. "What's so funny, Isabella?"

"You're sexy." I said still laughing.

"Thanks. Now lets get you home before you start telling strangers they're sexy too." Edward pulled me up into his arms bridal style and put me into Jaspers car.

"I love you, Eddie. I do. I do. I do. I do." I was going to regret this one in the morning. We got home faster than I remembered the drive being there was.

"Shh, Bella, you're drunk out of your mind. But I-" Before he could get the words out I opened the passenger side door and puked. Luckily I was right next to a drain so it all got washed down there.

"I feel so much better, Eddie-Poo." I was giggling uncontrollably now.

"Ok lets get you up into bed, you're not going to feel so good in the morning." He carried me up into my room and helped me change out of my dress and into one of the big sweatshirts I had of his lying around my room. He laid me down in my bed and was about to climb back down the ladder when I grabbed his shirt.

"Don't leave me, Eddie Baby." I released my grip on his shirt and pouted. He would never be able to say no to that one. But he did. And he slept on the couch that night seeing as I was too tired to try and fight him.

I woke up the next morning feeling like absolute hell. I groaned and got out of bed looking at Alice who was sprawled out across her bed with a peaceful looking Jasper sleeping on the floor next to her. I got out of the room without waking either of them I looked around and couldn't find Edward anywhere. I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around my body shivering from the cool air blowing off the ocean. I stepped out onto the balcony seeing my favorite bronze hair blowing from a chair out there. I let the brisk air hit me like a ton of bricks. I really had no energy for anything.

Edward pulled me into his lap and I rested my head on his chest. I started to cry. His arms tightened around me as he rubbed my back up and down trying to calm me down. I looked up at him and pressed my nose to his, allowing our foreheads to meet. The tears were still falling as I stared into his green eyes trying to erase every memory from last night. The only thing that stands out to me is that Emmett told Edward I had said I loved him. Edward reached up and wiped away a tear from my cheek and lightly kissed my lips. I pulled back reluctantly and let my lips linger on his as I spoke.

"I'm sorry." I said softly reaching up to run my fingers through his bronze hair.

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Isabella. I wont hold you to anything you say when you're drunk. It was actually very amusing to hear stories about little Bella riding a bike into a pool." He chuckled recalling one of the stories that Alice had told. "But I do have to say, was when you went to Victoria's Secret for the first time with Alice and knocked over one of the mannequins." I blushed a really deep red at this comment. It was one of my more embarrassing moments.

"Hey. I was really nervous and that lady came up behind me and asked if I wanted their two for one thong deal. I was in seventh grade what did you want me to do?" I asked swatting at his arm.

"Get the thongs and then wear them around only me. Maybe nothing else even." Edward was having too much fun with this. I had had enough of this and started to get up and untangle myself form Edward's hold. "And where do you think you're going?"  
"I have had enough of talking about…." I trailed off leaving it very clear I was talking about the thongs.

"Oh you mean your thongs?" Edward said with a smug look on his face.

"Whoa! Big E over here is already talking about Bellzo's thongs!" Emmett came out just in time to hear the end of our conversation. I let my head fall back into Edwards body trying to hide my face from my friends.

I heard a thud and turned around to see Rose shaking her head at Emmett.

"C'mon love birds we've got smoothies in here to fix our little hang over problem." Alice motioned us into the kitchen where we all sat around the counter. Jasper was mixing smoothies and I asked if he needed any help. When he said no he had it under control I jumped onto Edwards lap, happily letting him wrap his arms around me.

"If no one objects, I was wondering if Bella, you would like to come with me and my family to our summer house in Laguna for a week. I think there would be like three days where you would have to watch Mackie, but I would be there and other than that Mackie would be with my parents." Edward asked me, looking around at all of my friends for approval for stealing me for a week.

Suddenly I noticed everyone meeting Alice's eyes, I looked back at Edward and he seemed just as confused as I was. I looked back at Alice who was now looking at the floor. I mentally went over all the dates of next week, it wasn't anyone's birthday, nor was it a holiday week. I kept my eyes on Alice trying to see if I could read her and figure out what was wrong.

"Sounds like fun." Alice said, weakly, still looking at the floor. Something wasn't right. I whispered in Edward's ear that if everything was fine I'd love to go with him, and then hopped off his lap and grabbed Alice by the arm. Rose had tears in her eyes that she was hiding by looking up at Emmett and then covering her face in his arms. Jasper looked upset too, what the fuck was going on.

"Alice. I need to talk to you." I said pulling her into our bedroom. "Alice, we've been best friends since we were little. It's always been me, you and Emmett. Now please, if something is wrong, tell me. I'm your best friend that's what I'm here for. And I know I haven't been around a whole lot lately but Alice if something isn't right I want to know."

"Always the overdramatic one, Bella. Everything's fine. Have fun on vacation! I was thinking everyone could go to the beach the week before Edward has to go back to studying and school stuff." Alice said, still not looking me in the eye.

"Alice, look me in the eye and tell me everything's fine." I was getting angry now. Since when do Alice and I lie to each other? We were basically sisters.

"Bella, everything's fine." She said looking into my eyes, I could still see the doubtfulness clouding her usually perky eyes.

"Alice. What is it?"

**Cliffhanger anyone? Anyways im not sure when ill post next its my 21st birthday today and depeneding on the hangover tomorrow i may or may not have something up tomorrow, probably monday if you guys review enough. Im hoping for atleast 10 reviews. who knows the next chapter you could find out whats wrong with alice...**


	11. Everything You're Breathing For

Bella POV

I had spent the rest of my day sitting on my bed trying to get Alice to talk about what was wrong. She wasn't giving up any clues as to what was wrong. She just kept packing my stuff and telling me that nothing was wrong. Sometimes I hated how persistent she could be. Finally I caved, letting her know that I would remember this and figure out what was wrong eventually.

"Bella, nothings wrong. Now you're going to go to Laguna with Edward and the Cullens, you're going to have an amazing time, and then you're going to come home to a perfectly normal house and we're going to spend a week on the beach just the 6 of us." Alice was already planning our trip to San Diego. She claimed she couldn't wait, but I could see in her eyes that something was still up.

"Alice, I swear to god if something is up you are such a goner." I was going to be so pissed off if I found out that something was truly wrong and Alice was lying to me. She seemed to cringe at that but laughed in covering. It wasn't her usual musical laughter, but rather a very dark laugh that gave me the chills.

She just kept packing for me in complete silence. I told her a number of times that I could do it myself but she claimed I would pack ugly clothing and no o0ne wears ugly clothes in Laguna. I gave up on trying to help her and just flopped onto my bed turning on Room Raiders.

"Rose! Room Raiders is on!" I screamed out of my bedroom after I turned on the TV. She came into the room, looked at the TV and flopped next to me on my bed. "I thought the three of us could all stay together in here before I leave tomorrow. You know just like old times."

"Works for me." Rose said already making herself comfortable on my bunk bed. She positioned herself on one end while I was on the other end.

"Sounds good." Alice said shutting my 4th suit case and crawling up to my top bed also. She snuggled herself in the middle of my bed sitting up against the wall since she was short enough to not hit her head.

That's how we stayed all night, talking and laughing. Alice would seem out of it from time to time but tried to never let it show. Everyone was asleep by 1 in the morning when I felt something vibrate next to my pillow. I reached around me to grab my phone.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** I miss having you in my arms. - E**

I smiled to myself after reading that. I looked at the time and realized it was 3 in the morning. What on earth was Edward doing awake? We were leaving in about 4 hours for Laguna; he should be sleeping.

**To: Edward**

** From: Bella**

** You should be sleeping silly. You'll see me in four hours. I cant wait for this trip with you. – B**

It wasn't more than three minutes before I had another text from Edward.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** I cant wait to hold you in my arms. See you in three hours love. – E**

And with that, I shut my phone and drifted into sleep thinking about how Edward Cullen had just called me love.

I woke up the next morning to find Rose's feet in my face and Alice asleep on my legs. I woke both of them up and they laughed at our sleeping arrangements. We all got up and walked into the kitchen talking about some reality dating show. We all actually got in the car this morning and went to get Starbucks before my big drive to Laguna. I ordered the same thing I always get, a caramel frappicino. Alice and Rose both got frappicinos as well and we headed back home.

It was just about 7 so I put on a new bathing suit that Alice had gotten me and my favorite jean shorts. I threw on Edward's old rugby shirt from the time he had spilt hot coffee all over me. I was just throwing my hair into a ponytail when I heard Alice let Edward in. I ran over to him and threw my arms around him.

"I missed you." I whispered into his ear and then buried my head into his neck. I pulled back and kissed his lips gently. He smiled and then put me back on the ground.

"So, love, where are your bags?" He asked, grinning as he called me love again. His eyes never left mine; he let his green eyes burn into me causing me to fall even more in love with him.

"In my room." I said nodding towards the room. "I can help carry them though. There are like four of them I think. You know Alice when she gets going with clothes…"

I lead him into the room where we began moving the bags out into the living room. Luckily it was just me and him driving down in his car, while his family took Carlisle's Mercedes, so there was plenty of room left in the trunk for all the bags. Once all the bags were out in the living room I turned to face my best friends in the entire world.

I first grabbed onto Rose, hugging her with all my might. "Take care of everything while I'm gone." I whispered to her, still hugging here.

Then I turned to hug Alice. She hugged me harder than ever as if she would never see me again. "I'm going to miss you, you little spaz." I said to Alice as I kept hugging her. "I will figure out what's wrong when I get back. Mark my words."

"Bye Bell. Have a fun trip. Text me when you get there okay?" Alice said letting me go and going to stand by Rose.

"Yea Bella. We're gonna miss you for the next week. Lets hope Alice doesn't kill me." Rose chuckled joining in on our fun. I waved goodbye grabbing one suitcase, while Edward took three and still managed to hold my hand.

"Just you and me now, love." Edward said leading me down the stairs and out to his Volvo. He lifted the suitcases up and easily got them in the back of the car. He pulled out a blanket and a few CDs. He handed me the blanket and then grabbed me before I could get into the car. I felt his strong arms wrap around me and pull me closer. "I have one more thing to do before we leave, though." I looked up into his green eyes tilting my head to the left wondering what else we had to do. He then pulled his casted arm around to the front of us and I knew. "The doctor said I could get it off today if I promised to be careful. I didn't think you'd really want to cuddle with this hard cast."

"Edward that's awesome! I can't believe its already coming off. I'm so happy for you." I said throwing my arms around his neck. I kissed him and he deepened it. I felt his tongue trace my lower lip begging for approval. I opened my mouth and let his tongue massage mine. He pulled away from me a few minutes later and opened the passenger side door for me.

We drove to the doctor's office and sat patiently waiting for the doctor to be ready for him.

"So, tell me about your house in Laguna." I said, just giving us something to talk about. His arm was wrapped lightly around me playing with my hair that he had pulled out of the ponytail.

"Well, our house is rather large. Its got about 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. Its right on the cliff above the ocean, with its own path down to the sand. There is a large pool in the backyard. Its one of those infinity pools so it looks like its drifting off into the water. I've never really been a big fan of going to the house, always too busy with school. But now that you're going with me, I'm sure I'll love every minute of it." Edward said, I'm sure my jaw had hit the floor while he was talking. His house sounded amazing. No, amazing didn't even begin to cover it. Soon enough a nurse came out and called Edward's name.

"Bella, do you think you could come in with me?" Edward asked, he had a nervous smile on his face. I wondered if he was afraid of the saw they used.

"Of course." I said smiling at the nurse who had been eyeing Edward every since she came out. I grabbed his hand and walked closely behind him.

She led us to a room that was spacious and had a small table on the side where Edward was to sit while his cast was cut off.

"Okay, so just sit on that table and the doctor should be in here any minute. If you need anything, I'm Sarah. Please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be right out there." She said trying to sound seductive. Edward wrapped a very possessive arm around me tightly before turning to the nurse who was still standing there.

"I have everything I could ever want right there in my arms. Thanks though Sam." Edward said, porously screwing up her name.

"It's Sarah, and if you change your mind about…that…I'm right out there." And with that Sarah left. Edward kissed the top of my head before hopping up onto the table. I walked over and stood between his legs letting him wrap them around me. He leaned his head down and rested it on my neck. If it weren't for the table I'd be giving Edward a piggyback ride, probably falling over my own two feet.

Suddenly there was a knock but Edward didn't remove his legs from around me, even after the door opened to a very nice looking doctor. I saw that he had the tool to take the cast off in his hand and noticed Edward's twisted face.

"Hi Edward. This is just going to cut right through the cast and then you can be on your way." The doctor said turning around to get his gloves on. This was probably going to take around fifteen minutes including the check they had to do on his arm before letting us go.

"You're not scared are you?" I turned around to face him while the doctor was busy getting everything ready. I teased him and saw his face turn a slight red. Edward Cullen blushing, well that was a first.

"If I said yes would you let me hold you tighter?" He said back smoothly, but I caught the uneasiness in his smooth voice.

"I suppose that would only be fair." I said and with that he pulled me up onto the table too and sat me down on his lap. "Edward I think the doctor might have a problem getting to your arm like this."

"Actually I think I can get around you." The doctor said chuckling at our new position. "I remember the bliss of young love. My wife and I just celebrated our 29th anniversary last month. We were once young and in love too."

"Hmm, I can see it now Bella. 29 years together, me a doctor, you at home near the beach teaching our kids how to surf." Edward seemed to be mumbling more to himself than talking to me or the doctor but he seemed so lost in dream world that it made me blush. I couldn't believe he was having the same thought as me.

"Ha, okay here we go Edward. This won't hurt at all." The doctor said, allowing the saw to star tearing away at the blue cast that had been restricting Edward's cuddling ability. Edward buried his face into my hair and I turned and kissed his forehead giggling. Soon enough the cast was off and the examination went by with flying colors. Edward was just about completely healed, he just had to be careful over the next few days.

"Well that wasn't so bad." I said hoping off the table and grabbing Edward's hand as we left.

"That's what you say. You didn't have to have a saw cutting something off of your skin." Edward said grumpily, ignoring the nurse who was saying goodbye to him. As soon as we were outside Edward pushed me up against the car again kissing me. He put his hands in the back pocket of my shorts getting a giggle from me in return. He kept kissing me passionately, but then pulled away. "Much better." He said against my lips.

We got into the car and Edward grabbed my hand. We drove for about an hour before stopping to get some lunch. Edward and I talked about our lives before Manhattan Beach, our college lives and high school stories. It was really funny hearing all the things that Edward did when he was younger. I also learned that he can play the piano really well, which would explain the large grand piano sitting in their house.

Soon enough we were back on the road listening to music when I felt myself drifting off. Edward grabbed the blanket I had put on the backseat and threw it on me. I was suddenly thankful he remembered I slept in the car. I fell asleep to Edward rubbing small circles with his thumb against my hand.

"Love we're here." I opened my eyes to a huge white house set on the edge of a cliff. The house was spectacular. But what caught my attention at first was the pathway leading to the beach. It was lit with a thousand little string lings strung along the palm trees down right to the beach. I tore my gaze away from the water back to the house, taking in all the flowers and foliage that were growing around the outside of the house.

"Edward, it's beautiful." I said turning to see Edward leaning up against the car looking back at me. He smiled at me with the crooked grin he and Mackie shared.

"My parents told me that if I wanted it, I could have this house instead of the one in Manhattan Beach. I wanted to be closer to Mackie though so I stayed. They said if I wanted, when I was done with school that the offer would still stand." Edward said now moving towards the back to get our bags.

"So I bet you're gonna move up here when schools out then right? I mean who wouldn't want to live in this house. It's amazing. You have the beach right there, its basically three times the size of any house in Manhattan Beach. Its perfect." I said, moving to help him with the bags. Again he took most of them only letting me carry two.

"It wouldn't be perfect, Isabella." He took my hand and rolled me into his body, luggage and all. "Not unless you were there with me. Because…I- I love you Bella."

I looked up into his eyes and I could tell he wasn't lying, his eyes were filled with so much love and compassion that it stunned me. I felt the tears already forming in my eyes. I tilted my head up to his and pressed my forehead against his.

"I love you too, Edward." I whispered before crashing my lips to his. He dropped his bags and let his arms snake around my back pulling me closer.

"It feels so good to hear you say that. I've been waiting for those words." He mumbled against my neck as I giggled in response telling him again that I love him. He pulled away and looked at me with a smile on his face. We heard a door open and assumed it was the front door. "Oh, Mackie has really let being a 6th grader go to her head. She's gotten quite the attitude and mean at times. Don't take anything personal, she does it to all of us." Edward said that so fast I was surprised that I caught all of it.

"Bella! Its so wonderful to see you again!" I heard Esme call from the front door. She came down to the car and grabbed me in a hug. I loved her motherly feel, I felt oddly at home with this woman.

"Hey Esme! Thank you so much for letting me come with you guys." I said as she let her arms down from around me and I went to go and pick up my luggage again. I walked behind Esme catching up on everything as we walked into the house. She was telling me how Mackie's hit her "preteen" stage and has been a royal pain in the ass. I laughed at the idea of Mackie becoming a pain; she was such a sweet girl when I meant her back in the beginning of the summer.

"Now, Bella, there are more than enough bedrooms in the house for you to have your own if you'd like. But my mom said it was perfectly fine if we wanted to share the guest bedroom, which is on its own floor. Whichever you would like to do, love." Edward said wrapping his arms around my waist pulling my back into his chest. I looked up at Esme who was smiling while grabbing water out of the fridge.

"That sounds great. But no funny business, Eddie." I said using my nickname for him that I hadn't used since the accident in San Diego. Edward chuckled and we carried the bags up all three flights of stairs. We got to the top of the stairs and Edward opened a door. He pulled my hand through the doors that lead to a massive bedroom. The one whole wall was covered in seamless glass, giving the illusion that you were sleeping with the ocean as one wall. There was a large balcony to the right that had a hot tub and two chairs. I walked out to find an outdoor shower out there and giggled to myself. I used to shower outside when I would surf right before class.

"Edward. Is this all for us?" I asked flopping down to join Edward, who was already laying on our king sized bed. His eyes were shut but he still wrapped both his arms around me, pulling me into her chest.

"Mhm." He mumbled. "I'm tired, want to just have a movie day for the rest of the day? Then tomorrow we can go to the beach?"

"I would love that." So that's where we stayed, lying in our bed up all the way away from everyone else downstairs, laughing and watching movies. I occasionally would go down to get popcorn or sodas, but no one questioned why we were both missing in action. Edward was sound asleep so I decided I would take a shower outside.

I wiggled out of his arms and grabbed one of the fluffy towels off the table and found my strawberry shampoo out of my bag. I loved showering outside; it was the most amazing feeling to me. I watched the waves crash across the shoreline as I let the hot water meet my hair and flow down my back. I closed my eyes and just listened to sound of the waves and the seagulls as I started washing my hair. My eyes flew open when I heard the balcony door creak open. I saw Edward standing there grinning while I blushed deep red. I turned so my back was facing him, hoping he hadn't seen an eyeful already.

"You know, we have showers inside, love. There's no need to shower out here." Edward had now happily sat himself down on one of the reclining chairs next to the shower.

"I like it out here. It's relaxing. The ocean is basically my first home." I said quietly, trying to finish washing my hair and now give Edward a peep show was a very difficult thing to juggle.

"The views nice." Edward said chuckling. He let me finish my shower in peace while he just sat there looking out at the ocean, occasionally looking up at me and smiling.

"Hey, can you hand me the towel?" I said turning off the water and ringing out my hair. He got up from his chair and grabbed my towel off the edge of the balcony.

"How did you plan on getting that towel without my help, Bella?" He said laughing to himself. I guess I hadn't planned on having to get out of the shower, naked and walking to the clear balcony to get my towel. I ignored his comment and thanked him for the towel, and wrapped it around me.

The next few days went along well, it was basically just Edward and me sitting on the beach, cuddling and laughing. I tried teaching him how to surf, however that only ended up with us spending the rest of the day laughing at how horrible Edward did at that. By the fourth day, he got it down and was beginning to improve. I was just about to get ready to take Mackie shopping on the fifth day of our vacation, because Esme and Carlisle were going off to a medical seminar and bringing Edward to get his name in the public. They wanted him to be as successful as Carlisle and began introducing him to all the major doctors in the state.

Edward kissed me goodbye and wished me good luck. I hadn't seen much of Mackie because she was hanging out at the teen clubs, finally old enough to get in, or at the beach with her new friends. I dressed in a simply sundress with a pair of wedge heels. Another fabulous Alice planned outfit. I suddenly remember that I hadn't texted Alice back in days and she was probably freaking out.

**To: Alice**

** From: Bella**

** Sorry for the delay. Everything has been crazy here in laguna. How's home? Going to tell me what's wrong yet? Edward told me he loved me. I told him I love him too. miss you and rose. tell her I say hi.**

It took about three seconds before my phone was ringing, alerting me of the new message.

**To: Bella**

** From: Alice**

** AH! HE LOVES YOU! BELLA THAT IS SOOO GREAT! home is fine. jasper and emmetts mothers are coming to visit tomorrow for the night. meeting the woman who had to raise Emmett. this should be interesting. **

** ps. nothings wrong. give it up.**

"Mackie, are you ready yet?" It had been about ten minutes since the last time I had called to see if she wanted to go yet. She finally came down the stairs wearing eyeliner and a short denim skirt.  
"Yeah Bellsy, lets go." Mackie said not greeting me with her usual enthusiasm. We walked out into the car; Edward had left me with his Volvo for the day so I could cart Mackie and I around. We went shopping around on Main Street while she told me everything that had happened. She talked about middle school and how excited she was. Every so often she would let her old self shine through and pull my hand off in some direction. I was beginning to miss the old Mackie, soon enough I knew she wasn't going to need a nanny anymore.

"Mack, wanna head back home? We can go surfing if you want." I suggested, anything to get away from the snickering girls of Orange County. So that's where we spent the rest of our day, surfing across the beach. I paddled out after a big wave and turned to see Mackie smiling and waving. I turned to follow her gaze back to the beach where Edward, Esme, and Carlisle were standing waving back. I wondered how I didn't notice them on that last wave but didn't dwell over it. I let Mackie have the last set and then paddled back to the beach where I laid my surfboard down on the sand. I didn't want poor Edward to get his suit wet so I didn't run up and hug him right away.

"There are my two favorite girls." Edward said bending down to kiss me lightly. "How about we go get some dinner? I'm feeling Beach Pizza." And with that we all walked up the lit trail, Mackie raving on and on about our day and then surfing while Edward and I trailed behind. I mouthed an "I love you." to him and he returned it.

That was how the rest of vacation went, in utter bliss. It surprised me how much of old Mackie began to shine through after spending some more time with me. She began to regain all of her energy, even going so far as to waking Edward and me up by coming into our room jumping on our bed. She would fine us in our usual position of my back pressed up against his chest sleeping soundly. But this morning was different. It was the last morning we were there in Laguna. Esme, Carlisle and Mackie all headed back to Manhattan Beach early, so that Carlisle could get to work.

I woke up and noticed it was around 4 in the morning. After trying very hard to lull myself back to sleep I got up and decided to surf for an hour. I pulled my wet suit half up and lightly kissed Edward on the forehead before leaving him a note and grabbing my board to hit the water.

_E- Look outside if im not back in your arms. I love you – B_

I walked down the lit path to the empty beach. I loved it when the beach was empty, tourist really annoyed me. I let the waves pull me back and forth, making sure I stayed far enough away not to crash into the pier. I stayed out for a while longer than planned and decided to head up after about an hour and a half of surfing.

I got back to find my peaceful Edward still curled up in the sheets, holding on to one of the pillows where I had been. I laughed quietly to myself before going out to the balcony. I hoped into the hot tub, trying to warm myself up after being in the cold ocean. I don't know how long I sat out there for, it must have been awhile though because soon enough Edward woke up and came out to join me. He climbing into the hot tub closing his eyes once he was in. I moved over and crawled into his lap, enjoying the peaceful feeling of being in his arms looking out into the ocean.

"All this can be ours, babe." He whispered into my ear. I giggled at the sound of him calling me babe but it fit, I liked it.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused at the statement he had just said.

"All of this, the house, the ocean, me. It can all be yours. You just have to say the word Bella. I want you to see the world. I want you to have everything you could ever desire right at your feet. Everything could be yours." He continued to whisper into my ear. He slightly kissed right under my earlobe getting a low moan from the back of my throat.

"I love you." I said spinning around in his lap so I could kiss him. "I'll take it. I'll take all of it, as long as I have you with me, holding my hand." I said as I intertwined our fingers, my left hand matching his right.

"I love you too, Bella." He said as we sat there, watching the waves pull back out into the ocean signaling the change of the tides. "Forever." He whispered barely audible.

**Still no word about Alice, but soon, soon it will all be discovered soon. within the next three chapters you will all know whats going on. but just a hint, the summary of the story includes when tragedy strikes the roommates, so its probably nothing good or happy. but anyways review. and youll get to know whats going on with alice sooner. love you guys!**

**love - n**


	12. Must Be The Water

**sorry i havent updated in a while little readers. school started again yesterday so classes have been dominating my time, between that and wedding plans and its haze week for the new surfers at the shop so ive been really busy anyways i thought it was time for some drama in the story so here we are ... drama ... enjoy!! review please!! **

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Edward POV

I just spent the most amazing week with my Bella, the girl I wanted t o spend forever with. We were at my house in Laguna, which is where I planned to let Bella and myself live when I finally got up the nerve to ask her to have me forever. Being in Laguna, we just drove straight from there to meet all of Bella's friends for our week in San Diego. It was going to be the last week before I had to go back to medical school, which was ending in a year and a half. I would be graduating in the winter and then beginning practice in Laguna.

"Ready to go, love?" I called out to Bella who was finishing up in the bathroom. I had already moved all of our stuff out to the car and was making some coffee for the ride.

"Almost." I heard my angel call back from the bathroom as I went down to the kitchen making sure that there was nothing in the fridge that could go bad. God only knew when the next time someone would be in the house.

All of a sudden I felt two little arms wrap around my waist and turned to see Bella. She looked beautiful even when she wore my old baggy shirts and a pair of denim short shorts. She almost looked like she had on no pants if you caught her at the right angle.  
"Well aren't you beautiful." I whispered into her ear, engulfing her in a big hug. We hit the road planning on making it to San Diego around noon but hit major traffic. Bella slept for majority of the ride, murmuring softly to herself about how much she loved me or how she didn't want to go shopping anymore. She was so adorable when she slept. I reached over to brush a piece of hair out of her eyes, when all of a sudden her eyes fluttered open. She looked around with her big brown eyes and looked around confused.

"How long have we been in traffic for?" She asked softly, still not used to being fully awake. I grabbed her hand and chuckled.

"A little over an hour. It looks like its clearing up though." I said and noticed she was snuggling back into the window. "Go back to sleep, love. We'll be there soon enough." I said kissing the back of her hand lightly.

"Mm. I love you, Eddie." She mumbled before closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.

"I love you too, Isabella." I whispered not wanting to wake her up again. As I said, soon enough we were back in San Diego. It was the first time I had been back since the incident at the zoo. I usually made my way to San Diego once ever few weeks before everything happened at the zoo, but now I couldn't bring myself to face the place where I almost lost my sister.

I unloaded the car into the condo Alice had rented and said hey to everyone.

"Where's little Bellzo?" Emmett asked me while picking up Rosalie and putting her on his lap.

"She's the next thing I'm bringing in." I said walking back out to go and get Bella, who was still sound asleep in the car. I heard Emmett's booming laughter from the driveway. I slowly opened the door and let Bella fall into my arms.

"Whoa. Edward, a nice 'Bella we're here' would have worked wonderfully." She said giggling to herself. I threw her over my one shoulder. I felt her punching my back thinking that she was actually hurting me. I walked her into the house and threw her on the couch.

"Well that's everything." I said looking around at our now hysterical friends. Bella sat on the couch pouting before I picked her up again and sat down before placing her back on my lap.

"Bellzo, cheer up lil sis. We have all week together." Emmett said lightly punching Bella on the arm. It was so weird watching everyone interact, I almost felt out of the loop watching everything. They were such a family, I just hoped that by the end of this week that I would be part of that family.

"Well, I think since it's almost 5 that we should go to the beach, and then maybe order some take out and crash early tonight." Alice suggested looking around at everyone who seemed more that happy to comply with that plan.

"Edward, wanna go through around the football?" Jasper asked me, I looked at Bella who was smiling and nodded once at me, giving me the okay to go.

"Yeah, sure give me a minute to put a bathing suit on." I said noticing that both Emmett and Jasper were in bathing suits. I figured this game of football was going to get a little wet.

I took Bella's hand and let her to the room that we would be sharing, where I put our bags, and grabbed a bathing suit out of the bag. I kissed her lightly on the forehead before changing really quickly and ran out to the beach to catch up to the guys.

We threw around the football for about ten minutes before I noticed Bella, Rosalie, and Alice all laying down towels to sit on laughing at something Alice had just said. The football suddenly hit me in the head while I was admiring Bella's body, knocking me over into the incoming wave. Everyone erupted with laughter. I stood up running a hand through my messy hair and looked up at Bella. She mouthed 'I love you' and then turned back to talking to Alice and Rosalie.

We finished playing football and after going swimming with the girls we made our way back to the condo. Jasper, always being the thinker, had already called for take out, so when we got home the food was just arriving. We sat around laughing, mostly at Emmett and Bella who occasionally threw some Chinese noodles at each other. Alice filled everyone in on her encounter with Mrs. McCarty.

The girls had plans to go shopping tomorrow and so the boys and I were going to go to the boardwalk and walk around. Emmett said something about a tattoo but the subject soon changed when the girls started paying attention again. Bella and I said our good nights and walked hand and hand into our bedroom. We got ready quietly, both exhausted from our early morning drive and we both collapsed onto the small water bed.

"Well, I hope you don't get sea sick, Edward." Bella said laughing hysterically

our bed. She snuggled into my side kissing me lightly. "Night, Eddie. I love you."

"Night babe. I love you too." I said before pulling her closer to me and shutting my eyes.  
I woke up the next morning before Bella did. I looked down to see her peacefully rolling up and down with the movements of our waterbed. I took this time to take in all of her features, her brown long hair, her full pouty lips, everything about her seemed perfect in everyway. I leaned in close enough to take in her smell of strawberries and freesias but still far enough away to not worry about waking her. I laid there watching TV for a while, deciding to let Bella get some sleep. I watched as Johnny Depp danced across the TV pretending to have scissors for hands.

Suddenly I felt Bella shift in my arms and looked down at her only to be met by her beautiful eyes. I tilted my head down to kiss her good morning when suddenly she deepened the kiss and crawled onto my lap so she was now straddling me.

"Well, good morning to you too." I said smiling against her lips. We stayed like that for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door. Bella motioned for me to be quiet with one finger held up against my lips. I took this chance to start kissing Bella's neck and jaw line, tracing the scar lightly.

"Alright you two, lets go. We're taking Edward to the boardwalk while you go and do whatever girly thing Alice and Rosie have planned for you today Bellzo." Suddenly Emmett was in our room pulling my Bella off of me and then grabbing me by the arm. "Grab a bathing suit, bro, and meet us at the car in like two minutes." He said looking between me and Bella giving us a 'don't start making out again' look.

I quickly got ready and kissed Bella goodbye and promised to text her throughout the day. I got out to Emmett's Jeep Wrangler and hopped in. We were off in about two seconds when I got in the car and speeding towards the beach. I could only imagine the torture of how my poor baby felt having to be dragged around shopping all day.

"So about that tattoo…" Emmett started and both Jasper and I laughed. "No, I'm serious. I want to get a rose tattooed on my ass for Rosie. It's a surprise for her though."

"Seriously, man? What if something happens and you guys break up? Then you're just going to have a rose on your ass." Jasper said trying to contain his laughter.

"Seeing as how I proposed last night and she said yes, I don't see there being a problem." He said and we all high fived him and congratulated him. I personally had always wanted to get a tattoo. Maybe something just on my shoulder or back I just never had the balls to get one. I wonder what my Bella would say.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** Babe, what do you think about tattoos on a doctor? Don't say anything to the other girls when you read this, wouldn't want them to jump to conclusions. I love you.**

I would wait to see what Bella thought before tattooing my back. Even if I did do something it would be something small. I had a picture when I was little of a sun and a moon, and always wanted to get that. I felt my phone buzz and grabbed it.

**To: Edward**

** From: Bella**

** One word. Sexy. What are you thinking of getting? Love you too.**

** To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** Probably some type of tribal print around my shoulder or my back. somewhere where people at work couldn't see them. **

** To: Edward **

** From: Bella**

** Sexy.**

So I knew that I was going to do it, now I just had to pick what I was going to do. We had made it into the shop while I was texting Bella and I now realized that Emmett was picking out his rose. He picked one with thorns but had a really nice looking flower part. While Emmett was getting that on his ass, and complaining constantly about the pain, I went and got myself situated in the chair opposite of him taking off my shirt. I picked out a really cool tribal design that I would put along my shoulder letting it drift to my back. It wasn't very big but it was all black. I have to admit, it hurt quite a bit at parts when he hit sensitive parts of my muscle.

Jasper went the safe route and got a simple saying on his lower leg, across the back down by his ankle. When he was done his tattoo said, 'what's so civil about war' in an old fashion style. He apparently had some odd fixation on old wars. Emmett finished and was instructed not to sit for an hour letting the tat scar. I finished last getting wrapped up so it wouldn't get infected and was instructed to not wear my shirt til later tonight.

We walked around the boardwalk, now all of us shirtless for the hell of it, laughing at Emmett's inability to sit down or how I couldn't really raise my arm very high. It was about 5 when we decided that we would go back to the house and wait for the girls and suggest another night in. The girls complied to it and then went to go pick up a pizza.

Everyone loved that tattoos. We spent another night laying around on the couch watching movies. We all had a few beers in us at this point and were laughing hysterically at nothing. I of a sudden I noticed that Alice had kept refusing her beer and asked if I could talk to her.

"Are you pregnant, Alice?" I asked trying to keep my words from not slurring.

"No. That's not the problem." She said and she started to get tears in her eyes so I gave her a hug. "If I tell you, you have to swear on Bella's life not to tell Bella. I mean it Edward. I need to tell her in my own time."

"Sure, Alice. But maybe you should really talk to Bella. You guys are best friends and everything." I said, I really thought that she should be talking to Bella and not to me about this.

"I'm sick, Edward." Alice said slowly, not looking up at me. I didn't understand at first.

"Alice, it's fine, they can just give you some type of antibiotic for that stuff, if you're worried about Bella catching it, I'm sure she won't."

"No Edward. I'm sick. They found something on my right breast and don't know what it is. I could be dying Edward." Alice said now with tears running down her face. I barely knew her but she already felt close enough to be family to me. I pulled her as close as my sore shoulder would allow me and just let her cry. I heard Bella and Emmett laughing with their drunk voices and knew they weren't worried why we were gone.

"Alice, you should really talk to Bella. She's you're best friend, she deserves to know." I really wanted Alice to tell Bella, this way Alice wouldn't have to be alone through the whole thing.

"Edward, please don't tell her. I need to tell her on my own, and I will after this week. I just wanted a week for all of us to be normal together. Finally a complete family, and I wanted it to not be centered around me being sick." I looked back at her and nodded, understanding that she needed to tell Bella in her own time.

"I just don't want to think about if this is something dangerous, how little time I would have left with everyone. With the love of my life, with my best friends who were closer to me than my family, with Emmett and you, Edward please don't turn this vacation into a sad story. I want one more happy ending before it all gets tough." Alice had now composed herself, and was ready to head back into the family room.

We got back into the family room and I just held onto Bella for dear life. I had thought about what Alice had said with such little time left and I couldn't imagine what it would be like if it were Bella who was sick and not Alice. I wouldn't let Bella out of my sight for the rest of the week.

We did odd little things around San Diego, and I always made sure that we did them together as a big group, not breaking up again. Alice would always look at me and smile when I suggested group trips to the beach, or shopping and I knew she appreciated it. We focused on having fun and that's exactly what we did. It was our last night there now and Jasper and I planned a huge bonfire down on the beach. We had everything set up and were just putting a few more pieces of wood onto the fire when we saw Emmett walking the girls down from the house.

Everything was perfect. There were chairs set up all around an already huge fire and we had everything that you could ever imagine roasting over a fire ready to go. Jasper and I had really bonded after he found out I knew about Alice and could easily vent to me. He was pretty hung up over the whole thing, but I completely understood.

I walked up to see my Bella wearing a pretty white eyelet dress and her hair down in soft curls. I picked her up off the sand spinning her around in my arms listening to her giggling. The last five months that we had been together had been amazing and I couldn't imagine living my life without her.

"Hey beautiful." I whispered in her ear, still not setting her down on the ground.

"Hey yourself." She said back giving me a huge smile before reaching up to kiss me. I eagerly kissed her back but stopped so that we could go join everyone. It had been really hard for me not to tell her about Alice but Alice had promised that she would tell her when we got home.

"This is amazing." Bella and Alice said at the same time, who ended up bursting out with laughter because of it. Once the laughter had subsided I had Bella on my lap and we were all laughing at everything that had happened. Word had gotten out today at the mall that Emmett proposed and everyone was talking about wedding plans. I noticed Bella playing with her left ring finger every time someone brought up the idea of marriage.

"Soon, love. I want to be able to give you the life you've always dreamed of." I whispered in to her ear, kissing her right beneath her earlobe. She turned around and grinned at me before kissing me lightly on my lips.

The night continued flawlessly, well that is until Emmett burned his toe against the fire trying to show Rose that when lighting driftwood, it burns blue and green. We all laughed at him while Jasper and I carried him back to the house. We left him with Rose and I went to find Bella already laying in bed. I pulled off my shirt and went to join her.

I laid down on our waterbed, laughing at the sudden movement it caused Bella to make. Once Bella rebalanced herself she snuggled under my arm tracing my new tattoo lightly. We fell asleep quickly after kissing for quite a while. Tomorrow we had to go back to reality, Bella had to go back to watching Mackie and I had to go back to med school in two days.

We said our goodbyes at the bonfire and were up before everyone else was. We drove back in almost silence, not getting stuck in too much traffic due to the hour of the morning. I listened to music while Bella laughed singing along to music she knew. When Bella would ask about Alice I simply shrugged pretending that I didn't know a thing. I really wished that Alice would talk to Bella though. It didn't seem right for them to hide this type of thing.

We made it home earlier than planned and Bella had a craving to surf. I agreed without a problem, I loved watching Bella surf. She always looked so graceful out there on the water, she looked like she belonged there. So as soon as we got back to Bella's, she ran in to grab the board and we walked down hand in hand to the beach.

"I'll stay here for a little bit. I think I'm gonna catch up on some much needed sleep." I said to Bella who was pulling on her wetsuit turning around so I could finish zipping it up for her.

"Sounds good. I'll be back in like half an hour to join you. I love you." She said standing up on her tiptoes to reach my lips and kissed me gently. I loved when she would do this, she always blushed when she pulled away from a kiss she initiated.

"I love you too." I whispered against her lips as she was walking away from me towards the water. I watched her for a few minutes, watching her paddle out and grab a wave only to repeat the same process. I soon fell asleep and was greeted by the same dream I had been having for a while now.

I saw a ton of people sitting on a beach and me at the end of a long alleyway that was covered in flowers. As soon as the dream started I would see Bella walking towards me in a white dress with flowers in her long brown hair. The dream would continue playing out the rest of our lives together, living happily by the sea with our kids running around.

I must have rolled over because I suddenly felt hands running up and down my chest. I figured Bella had gotten back from surfing so I pulled her close to my chest and kissed her without opening my eyes. She deepened the kiss, yet something still didn't feel right about it. I felt her fingers knot in my hair but it still didn't feel like it did the other day.

"E-Edward?" I heard someone choke out. I looked up to see that it wasn't my Bella I was kissing, but that blonde girl from the beach a few months back. I looked past her to see my beautiful Bella with wide eyes staring at me. I pushed the girl off of me and tried to get up to get Bella.

"Bella, please stop. I can explain." I called out to her as she started running. It didn't seem to help, but only force her to run faster. She ran fast enough that she tripped over a piece of drift wood and fell to a heap on the sand, crying. I ran over to her wrapping my arms around her trying to sooth her. She untangled herself from my arms and stood up.

"Edward. Don't. Don't you dare touch me, Edward Anthony Cullen. You are a pig. Don't you even think about coming anywhere near me ever again. This is over, I should have known it was all a joke to you." She spat as the tears streamed down her face. With that statement she took off running towards her house, running away from me for the first time ever. I could see the hurt in her eyes and wanted nothing but to hold her. I royally fucked this one up.

**so i bet majority of you hate my right now. dont worry though if you review enough maybe everything will be fixed sooner or later. review review review. love you reviewers! **

love always- n


	13. My Favorite Heart To Break

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**Hey little readers. thanks for all the reviewing! keep it up! anyways heres the next chapter. let me know what you think.**

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Bella POV

I ran, I ran as fast as I could back to my house with my board. Luckily no one was back from Laguna yet so I had no one to question why I was screaming like a fool. I threw my board onto the rack not caring if it broke in half. Every so often I would hear him yelling at me to unlock the door or to come outside from my front lawn but just ignored him. I ran around Alice and my room collecting as much as his clothing as I could find. I grabbed everything and threw it out the window, letting fall down around Edward.

"Screw you, Edward. I thought you actually loved me. Fuck you." I spat out the window letting the tears spill out over my eyes.

"Bella, please. I'm sorry. I had no idea, I thought she was you." He called up at me before I could close the window. That really did it. I broke down slouching down under the window letting my head bang against the wall.

"Please just leave." I said softly, but loud enough I was sure he could hear me. I sat there crying for God knows how long but that's all I did. I had called Esme and told her I was sick and that I wouldn't be able to watch Mackie today, she said she understood that Edward had just explained everything to her. I thanked her before hanging up the phone and went back to crying, lying on the couch.

I regained myself and just sat there looking at the blank TV screen. I heard a fumble at the lock and realized Rose must be getting off from work. I still had no idea where Alice had been all day but was happy to have at least Rose home.

"Bella? Oh my god, Bella what's wrong? Are you okay?" Rose said rushing to my side on the couch. She wrapped an arm around me and I broke down all over again. She made Emmett leave, promising to call him when I felt better.

"Shh, Bell, its going to be okay." She whispered, holding me close to her body rocking me back and forth. I choked out most of the story and Rose was left staring at me in awe.

"That son of a bitch. Bella, you don't need him, you have us. Who the fuck ever needed Edward Cullen." Rose spat. I silently thought to myself that I did, that I still do need Edward Cullen. He was my Mr. X, he was my everything.

"Rose, I just, I don't know what to do now." I sobbed into her chest.

"Lets get you cleaned up throw on some sweats and go grab In and Out." She suggested, helping me up and leading me towards the shower. I let the water run down my back, not feeling anything. I used Alice's shampoo, I would take the smell of vanilla over the smell of strawberries that _he _liked so much. When I got out of the shower Rose was already waiting for me with sweats and sat patiently while I changed.

We went to In and Out Burger in silence, me whimpering at times, trying to hold everything together. I felt like everything around me was moving in fast forward and I was stuck in place, and I just wanted everything to stop moving. Rose talked about her day while we ate and told me she wanted me to be her Maid of Honor at her wedding.

"I've known you the longest out here, Bell. I want someone special standing next to me, you've always been there for me. I'm gonna need you when I do this." She said shyly, probably not wanting to bring up a lot of wedding plans around my current state.

"I'd love to." I said weakly, I felt so empty that I could barely talk. Our next step was to get ice cream and then back to the house to hang out with Alice. She had something to talk to me about but I didn't acknowledge the fact that it was probably what's been wrong for the past few weeks.

"Bella!" I heard being called through the house from downstairs. I got up slowly, avoiding the mirror knowing all too well that my eyes would be puffy and swollen. "I need to talk to you right away." Alice said, then turned around to see my current state of hell. "I think you need to explain this…disaster too." She waved a hand up and down my body. I nodded.

"You go first." I choked out, making myself comfortable on the couch waiting for her to talk.

"Bella, I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to put it right out there in the open. I'm sick. They think I have breast cancer. They're not sure though. All they know is that I have a mass growing in my breast and its going to require chemo to get rid of it." She said looking only at the floor. I could see the tears brimming her eyes starting to fall. I suddenly forgot everything that had happened today and sat dazed facing my best friend in the entire world.

"W-What?" I asked stumbling over my words not processing everything as fast as it was being thrown at me. I felt fresh tears pooling in my eyes. This time though, they were for fear of losing my friend, my sister.

"I want, I want you to be there with me, Bells. I need you to be there with me. I can't do this alone. I'm so scared." She cried, we held onto each other and cried. We cried for hours and then pulled back from our embrace and looked at each other. Alice giggled and I looked at her like she was crazy.

"You look like you've been hit by a bus." She was still giggling and I sighed.

"With the type of day I've been having, I'd easily go with getting hit by a bus then having to see Edward making out with some blonde bimbo on the beach." I said with venom in my voice. Alice's eyes got wide and her mouth formed and "O"

"Yea, and his excuse, he thought I was her. I thought he was the one Alice, I thought that this was going to be it. I should have known it was too good to be true. I just feel so numb, I feel like I'm standing in a room full of people screaming and no ones looking up." I cried again on Alice's shoulder. This was horrible, here I am crying to a girl who's possibly dying over a stupid boy. I collected myself and turned to face Alice.

"Lets get out of here tomorrow. Lets sign up for something. We're going to need some sort of distraction in the time being." So there was the game plan. We looked online until we found a pottery by the beach class and Alice signed us up. The first class was tomorrow and that's what I focused all my attention to.

Alice woke me up at 8 to get ready for our pottery class. She let me dress myself, which was a nice change but felt wrong. I chose my denim shorts and my blue bikini top. Alice was wearing a very similar outfit and smiled when she saw what I chose. We walked giggling at small things the whole way to the beach. Luckily the class was held on one of the beaches near us, so we wouldn't have to go too far.

We quickly got instructions on how to work a potters wheel and were handed a huge hunk of clay. Alice looked over at me and just burst out laughing.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?" She asked me, making me laugh harder than I had been before. We looked around the room to find that we were in a class with a ton of 60 year old women who were terrible at making pots.

"Oh god, well here goes nothing." I said chucking my clay to the center of my wheel and it made an awful sound. That only forced us to laugh harder. Our instructions were to make a pot and then paint it with the emotion we felt when we made it. Alice and I looked at each other and just rolled our eyes. I wonder what a heartbroken girl and a girl who is possibly dying pots would come out.

I started off letting the soft clay mold under my fingers slowly, not wanting the pot to collapse. I kept spinning the wheel until my pot was huge and wavy. I had no idea how I got my pot to look so cool but decided it was time to call it quits while I was ahead. I called over our instructor, Jeff, and he stared at my pot in awe.

"Are you sure you ladies are beginners." He said letting his eyes travel from my pot to Alice's. I turned to look at Alice's pot which was just as large as mine but slender and abstract looking. We shrugged our shoulders wondering how on earth we pulled this one off.

"Whoa, Al. I think we've found our new morning activity. Well that is after my morning surf." I said chuckling to Alice. I had almost forgotten about everything yesterday until I realized I would have to watch Mackie this afternoon.

"Yeah, well muster up all of your emotions for tomorrows class. I would love to see how these pots turn out after you ladies paint them." Jeff said carefully placing our pots in the kiln. We thanked him and left to go grab Starbucks.

"I really don't want to go and watch Mackie today." I complained to Alice. She was sipping on her iced tea looking at me like she was concentrating hard on something.

"Well I have nothing to do if you guys just want to go to the mall, that way you have no chance of running into you know…" Alice seemed to have my solution to everything these days. If only I had a solution to her problem. All I could do was be there for her when the day came.

"That would be great. You sure you don't want to spend time with Jasper today?" I asked making sure she wouldn't be canceling plans just so I didn't run into stupid Edward.

"Yup, I've hung out with him every single day. I need a shopping trip anyways. I'm going to need some great accessories for when I'm in that horrible hospital gown." She joked, at least she was making light of the situation.

I jumped in my truck when we got home and sped over to the Cullen's. I recognized Edward's Volvo in the driveway and just decided to call Mackie's new cellphone number.

"Hello?" I heard her small voice pick up on the other end.

"Hey Mack, its Bella. Want to go to the mall with me and Alice today?" I said and soon I heard squealing in the background.

"Sure thing, Bellsy. I'll be ready in a minute. Just come inside and wait for me." She said.

"I think I'll just wait in the car, I'll be right outside though." I tried to hide the fact that I really didn't want to face her brother today. I'm sure she had heard the story from him though.

"Oh okay, I totally understand. Edward just wanted me to try and get you to come inside. I'll be out in a minute." And with that she hung up. I could see the disappointment on Edward's face as Mackie would tell him I wouldn't be coming in. I wouldn't let myself feel bad for him though. He broke me. I hate him. I didn't need to see him right now.

I saw Mackie's bronze hair flowing behind her as she opened the door and then suddenly behind her Edward stood there staring out of the house. Mackie ran to the car and climbed in. I made sure she had her seatbelt on before I gunned it trying to avoid Edward's piercing stare. My tires screeched on the road like banshees. Mackie was hysterically laughing next to me.

"Someone really doesn't wanna see my bro." Mackie said in between laughs. I turned to look at her, slowing the car down to a roll, not really wanting to waste the gas. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Nope, not really, Mack. But can you blame me?" I asked not really expecting her to answer, more of like not really wanting her to answer.

"Well, actually yeah I can. He loves you Bella. He just wants a chance to explain what happened. I mean sure he's a jerk for what he did to you, but you could at least hear him out." She was turned completely facing me now staring me down. We were at the house at that moment though and Alice came dancing out of the house climbing into the front seat while Mackie moved into the back.

"Hey Mackie!" Alice said waving into the backseat. She knew she had to tell Mackie today about her condition, it might seem odd with the stuff we were getting at the mall.

"Hey Alice!" Mackie said back, just as cheerful as Alice had been. Whenever we were around Alice she became a preteen again, but when it was just Mackie and I, she showed a lot of her old self.

Alice pulled Mackie aside to tell her about her illness in private. I wandered around to the surf shop in the mall, picking up a few random things like wax. I then went to the food court and got a cinnabon, in which I drowned all my sorrows. Mackie had made me think of maybe Edward did have something to say to me, but honestly right now I did not want to hear any of it.

Alice and Mackie soon found me and pulled me along on their shopping trip, buying Mackie new clothes for school and Alice some accessories for her upcoming cycle of treatment. I was trying on a new pair of jeans when all of a sudden I felt my phone vibrate.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** Please talk to me. I love you. Forever.**

At that message I suddenly realized that I never took off the necklace he had given me. I melted to the floor while sobs racked my chest. Alice quickly made her way in with Mackie in tow, both staring at me. I held out my hand to Alice, the hand with the necklace now balled up in it. She just looked at me and then crouched down and pulled me into a hug.

**To: Edward **

** From: Bella**

** I cant. Alice needs me. **

That was all I could bring myself to text back. I wanted to tell him that Alice would never cheat on me, or break my heart. I wanted to tell him that I hated him for what he did to me, or that I couldn't even get him out of my head. I wanted to tell him that I still loved him even though he hurt me, but I couldn't. I just couldn't let myself get hurt by him again.

We walked around the mall until Alice and Mackie got tired. Somehow I was still going though. With Alice's new condition, she lost energy very fast and Mackie's young age just fizzled out after that much walking. I drove us home and by the time we reached the Cullen's house Mackie and Alice were both asleep. I grabbed Mackie and carried her to the house knocking lightly on the door, praying silently that Edward wouldn't open the door.

He did. He opened the door and just stared at me. His eyes grazed my neck, probably looking for the necklace, his last sign of hope. His eyes met mine and were filled with pain. I shook my head and just walked around him. I couldn't even bring myself to talk to him. I brought Mackie up to her bedroom and then walked back to the door and let myself out, ignoring Edward's stares from the kitchen.

I drove home and texted Jasper to come and get Alice out of the car. I didn't want to wake her up, tomorrow was going to be long enough as it was. We had pottery in the morning and then another doctors meeting, so they could plan out the calendar for her treatments. I forced myself to push Edward out of my thoughts now, knowing that Alice needed me to be a rock. I curled into my bed alone, crying myself to sleep again. The pain was unbearable, but I would never let anyone know that I was actually hurting.

I woke up the next morning early, pulling my hair back into a high messy pony tail getting ready for pottery today. I went and woke Alice up who was lying in the bed across from me. Without any words we made our way to pottery, linking arms. We were both terribly nervous for the rest of the day and were just enjoying the silence in each others company.

I found my pot and grabbed it bringing it back to my table I shared with Alice. I looked at it for a while, trying to figure out how I could convey the feeling of losing the love of your life, and at the same time having your friend starting chemo therapy. I just painted what made sense to me. I painted thick harsh lines, in all shades of blues and purples. The top of the pot was dark, signifying my hard outer wall I had built up. As you go to the bottom of the pot, it was a light blue fading into an almost white color.

I flipped the pot over to make sure I had gotten everything and suddenly realized that I forgot I carved a message into the bottom of my pot. 'People think if you love someone enough that everything is just going to work out. People are wrong.' I ran my fingers over the hard bottom letting the words sink into my blood. I shuddered as I whispered the words out loud.

I turned to look at Alice who saw me looking at the bottom of my pot. She touched my arm lightly before working back on her pot. My eyes were filled with tears as I finished the harsh strokes of my pot. I turned to look at Alice's pot which was done in shades of pink.

"I have no clue what I'm doing." Alice admitted when I looked at her pot. We both broke out laughing, my tears eventually drying out. "You, however Bella, I think you may have found your new gift." We both looked at my pot and realized it was pretty amazing. There was a harsh intensity to it, while still being soft. I was truly proud of it. We brought our pots over to Jeff who was stunned by the beauty of mine and not so impressed with Alice's but faked enthusiasm anyways. He put them back in the kiln and handed up new slabs of clay telling us to make a new pot this time but that depicted how we viewed each other.

We both walked over to our wheels and began working silently again. My pot was shorter this time but strong looking. It had an intricate detail on around the top and I managed to carve in a paisley looking design onto the face of the pot. Alice wouldn't show me her pot until she was finished so we brought them over to the kiln and thanked Jeff.

Alice and I walked to the local diner to grab some lunch before meeting with her doctor. I could tell she was nervous and I didn't really want to talk about the appointment but I needed to make sure that I was the one she wanted there, not Jasper.

"Al, are you sure you want me there, and not like Jasper or your parents?" I asked quietly while we waited for our burgers.

"Of course I want you there. My parents are waiting to figure out the schedule so they can book flights out here. They were on their cruise when I told them and they wont be back for another ten days. And Jas has been to everything with me, today I want my best friend there." Alice said looking me dead in the eye. I knew she meant it, she always wore her emotion in her eyes.

We quickly finished our lunches and walked back to the house getting into my pick up truck. Alice fished around looking for what I could imagine was her favorite CD. She put it in and suddenly, 'she calls me baby and then won't call me, says she adores me and then ignores me' suddenly filled my speakers. I laughed remembering the time that Alice's dad caught us dancing around her house to this song in high school. We rode silently, Alice sighing every so often.

When we got to the doctors office, they asked Alice if they wanted me to go back with her and she looked at me and asked if I minded. I said not at all and took her hand, just as I had with Edward when he got his cast off. I shook off the memory remembering that Alice needed me right now.

"Hello, Miss Brandon. How are you feeling today?" Doctor Duff said closing the door behind him. He held a huge stack of papers in his left hand which I could only imagine were explanations of what was about to happen. "Hello, I'm Doctor Duff, Alice's doctor." He held out a hand for me to shake. I took it and shook his hand.

"I'm Bella Swan. Alice's best friend." I said and he smiled at me, he probably expected Jasper.

"She's the closest person I have to family right now." Alice said softly. I gave her hand a squeeze and the doctor nodded.

"Well, Alice, I think it would be best if we started treatment right away. The mass we found seems to be cancerous and we don't want to take the risk of it growing. I realize that this is a very hard concept to grasp but the earlier we can start, the better things should look." He said slowly handing Alice papers explaining the different types of medicine he would be giving her.

"Some of the side effects of the chemotherapy, which is the medicine you will receive most of, will be nausea, vomiting, decreased blood cell counts, hair loss, mouth sores and some pain. We'll be bale to give you more medicine for the nausea and pain but the hair loss is something that will not be avoidable. I'm sorry." He said looking down at his chart.

I saw the tears forming in Alice's eyes and squeezed her hand again.

"Hey, after this we can run to the mall really quickly and pick up some super cool wigs. On me too." I said to her, her eyes lit back up a little bit but turned back to the doctor and the color faded again.

"How soon do we start?" Alice asked, she sounded as if she was afraid of the answer, which could you really blame her?

"We can start as early as tomorrow afternoon if you'd like. The faster we get the chemotherapy in you the faster we can kill whatever is trying to take over your body." He said getting a sudden intake of air from both Alice and myself. Tomorrow, that was only 24 hours away, not even. I looked at Alice who was shaking her head.

"Can Bella be there?" She asked looking at the doctor from behind her long lashes, the color in her face had drained and she was grasping my hand for dear life now.

"Of course, you can have up to four visitors at a time. We ask that you keep it to four though to try and keep the stress level down." He said calmly grabbing her other hand. "I know that this is really scary, Alice, but I promise you that we will do everything we can to rid you of this. You're just going to have to trust us." He said looking straight at her rubbing her hand.

"Lets do this then." Alice said straightening herself out, squaring her shoulders. She looked like she was going into battle, which I guess tomorrow she was. We set up an appointment for tomorrow of when I could check her into the hospital. 11:00 am. It seemed so close. I hugged Alice close to my body when we got out to the car.

We drove to the mall as Alice called her parents and Jasper to tell them that it was tomorrow at 11. Her parents were nervous that they weren't going to be there with her but when they found out that I wouldn't leave her side, they felt a little better and promised to come as soon as they could. Jasper and Rose both promised to be there too. Emmett had to work but would come in on his breaks and check up on her. I called Mrs. Cullen while this was all going on to tell her everything. She said to not worry about Mackie and that Mackie goes back to school in a few days anyways so she wouldn't need a nanny. She promised to come and visit Alice and asked if bringing Mackie was ok, of course I said yes after checking with Alice.

Then she asked me the million dollar question.

"How are _you _doing Bella?" She asked and my heart stopped. I realized that we were now in the wig shop and Alice was looking at a few different ones trying them on.

"Holding it together for Alice's sake. Other than that I'm a mess." I said honestly not trusting my voice to lie convincingly.

"You know he's a mess too." She said in her motherly tone. I couldn't think about him being a mess right now, it was too hard.

"I-I just can't, Esme. Not right now. He hurt me so bad when I saw him on the beach, and Alice needs me now. I don't know. I've been trying so hard to keep him off my mind. Alice and I even signed up for pottery." I said almost breaking down.

"I know, dear. Everything will get better. I'm going to drop off some dinners at your house sometime tomorrow, will someone be home?" She asked, I silently thanked god that she dropped the subject of Edward.

"I think we'll all be at the hospital. There's a spare key under the mat though. Thank you so much, Esme." I said, truly thankful for a mother figure right now. I really just needed someone to reassure me, I had been trying so hard to reassure Alice that I never realized that I wasn't okay.

"Call me if you need anything. I mean it." She added which made me giggle. I thanked her again and hung up. I turned to look for Alice who had now acquired about three wigs.

I laughed and handed her the American Express and looked around at all the wigs. Alice paid for the wigs and linked my arm pulling me towards the exit. We made it back to the house slowly and had a big family dinner. Everyone was there, Jasper and Rosalie were sitting across from me and Alice and then Emmett joined us late and sat at the end of the table. We kept conversation light trying not to bring up what tomorrow held for all of us.

We all managed to fit onto the one couch in the basement to watch a movie. I was squished in between the two couples and that's how we slept, all of us together for one last night.

Alice and I woke up early the next morning to go to pottery one last time. I painted the "Alice Pot" as I now called it in vibrant colors tracing the paisley in white letting them pop out of the glaze. She still wouldn't let me see my pot, instructing me to come and pick them up tomorrow morning while she was in the hospital. We thanked Jeff one last time and left for the hospital.

"Ready?" I asked as we stood in front of the doors for about ten minutes. She grabbed my hand and looked at me. I pulled her into a hug and she let out a cry for a few minutes. She wiped away her tears and touch my hand again.

"Don't leave me, okay?" She said looking up at me with more tears in her eyes. I wiped them away and squeezed her hand.

"Best friend isn't a label. It's a promise. I'm not going anywhere." I said and we took our first steps into the hospital.

**here we go...**

**review away**


	14. The Permanent Rain

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**Guys seriously, you're amazing. i had like 14 new reviews on the last chapter alone. lets keep it up maybe get 16 this time? I think you can do it.**

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Bella POV

Jasper was driving Alice to the hospital this morning. I was on breakfast duty, no one really wanted to have to eat hospital food this early in the morning. She had to be there by 9 so that she could fill out all the paperwork. As promised I was going to pick up the pots today too from the studio. I threw on a pair of old gym shorts that I'm assuming belonged to Emmett because they said McCarthy across the back of the leg. I didn't really care that they were his, they were comfortable. I grabbed my keys and drove to the studio.

"Hey Jeff, are our pots done?" I asked looking around for Jeff, who I found helping some old lady spin her potters wheel.

"Yeah, Bella, I'll grab them for you in a minute." He said over his shoulder. For the first time I noticed that he wore a wedding ring. I guess I had never really paid any attention to him, I was always so focused on my work. I walked around the room admiring the amazing art work on all the shelves. Soon enough Jeff was up and grabbing the two pots. I first saw the Alice Pot and fell in love with it. It reminded me exactly of her. The vibrant colors were shining through the white patterns drawn all over it. I then looked in his other hand and saw the most beautiful pot I had ever seen.

"She really out did herself on this one." He said quietly, probably noticing my jaw on the floor. He handed me the pot Alice made for me, it was medium size but wide. Around the out side was all blues and greens, reminding me of the way the ocean looked after a storm. Around the inside of the bowl I saw words spinning down the walls, I looked closer and read them aloud.

"The most important thing in life is your family. There are days you love them and others you don't. But in the end, they're the people you always come home to. Sometimes it's the family you're born into, and sometimes it's the one you make for yourself." I felt the tears form in my eyes as I read the last line. It was true though, the five of us were a family. No one could break the bond that we shared.

"If you think that's something you should see the bottom." Jeff hinted walking away to leave me with my pot. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek and wiped it away.

I flipped the pot over only to realize why it was so wide, she wrote me a note on the bottom.

_Bell- _

_ I just want you to know that I love you, that you are my best friend, my sister. I remember the first time we met in 8th grade and instantly became inseparable. With my new disease, I've learned to appreciate the little things in life more than I did before. Thank you Bella, for letting me play Bella Barbie with you every day of your life since we were 14. Without you I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't be as strong as I am, I wouldn't be someone I liked very much. I want you to know that you've made such an impact in my life that I would do anything for you. If I don't make it out of this alive I want I'll tell you the advice I would be giving you in later life. First- Life is going to be bumpy, relationships aren't going to work. Edward though, Edward loves you more than you know. Don't let people like him slip away. Second- You're going to have to dress yourself if I do die, I want you to know that jeans match everything when all else fails. I'll be watching from whatever this life has for me after this to make sure you always look presentable. Third- Things get harder before they get better. And finally, I don't want you to dwell on my death, I want you to go out and live your life. I want you to take the money I've left for you and go fill every dream you've ever had. I want you and Rose to keep the house and live your lives the best you two can. I want you to have the world Bella. I love you. You are my best friend. My sister. I'll always be with you, Bella. Just look inside your heart, that's where I am. _

_ Love Always, _

_ Alice _

I wiped away the tears that had fallen while reading that, and trust me there were a lot. Jeff came over and gave me a hug and reassured me that everything was going to be fine. I took the pots and walked back out to my pick up truck and got breakfast. I couldn't keep my eyes off of that pot, knowing that she had planned out my life for me on the bottom. I pulled myself together while walking into the hospital. I found Alice's room rather easily and slipped in unnoticed.

Alice was asleep, another sign the doctors had warned us about her medicine, and Jasper and Rose were curled up in the chairs next to her watching a soap opera on TV.

"Hey guys, how's she doing?" I asked holding the bag of food up placing it in between Jasper and Rose.

"She's scared, but could you blame her? I think she'll really lose it when her hair starts to fall out though." Rose said taking out the box of pancakes I had gotten her. I walked over to the sleeping Alice and ran my fingers through her short, black hair. I walked over to a chair and made myself comfortable while I waited for her to wake up.

"What is this show? It's miserable!" I said watching the soap opera Rose and Jasper had been watching.

"It's great, Marissa just dumped Jordan for Johnny but Johnny's gay and no one knows, but then there's Jackie who likes Marissa. It's like insane." Jasper said, not taking his eyes off of the TV. Rose and I both burst out laughing and looked at Jasper. He blushed and went back to watching TV.

A few times Alice would wake up and get sick, but Jasper would beat both me and Rose to the trashcan and over to Alice's side. You couldn't do anything to get him away from Alice at this point. He even stayed in there when I went to get dinner when Alice was asleep and just made me promise to bring him back something.

Rose was asleep at this point so I walked down to the hospital cafeteria alone to get everyone a few sandwiches. I grabbed my ipod and tuned out the rest of the world. My head was now filled with a playlist I didn't recognize. Suddnely, I wished I hadn't brought my ipod. When I saw the name of the playlist I crumbled to the first chair I could find putting my hands in my head. It was the mix Edward made me to remind me how much he loved me back in Laguna. I pulled the earbuds out of my ear and cried.

"Are you okay, Miss?" A guy probably around my age said. He looked at me with concern and then I realized he had on the same coat that the rest of the staff did. He must be a doctor. Like Edward was planning on being. No. Don't let yourself think of him.

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit of a mess right now. It's just my friend is in treatment for breast cancer right now and I just caught my boyfriend cheating on with some girl that he claimed he thought was me and and I just don't know." I mustered out throw my sobs which were uncontrollable right now. I was rambling, that was embarrassing.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright, we all have shitty weeks. I'm Landon by the way. I work here full time. If you ever want someone to talk to maybe we could grab a coffee or something, I know where they hide the good stuff around here. I think you could use a friend right now." He said, giving me his pager number. "When you want just page me, I'll come and find you. You shouldn't have to go through this alone."

"Thanks Landon. I'm Bella Swan." I shook his hand and thanked him. His pager went off and he had to go, 911. I told him I would page him later for coffee once Alice was asleep again. I walked away to go grab dinner, wiping the remaining tears in my eyes and putting my brave face back on as I entered the room.

"Geez, Bell, I thought you fell off the face of the earth. I was just about to send Jasper out to look for you." Rose said as I walked back into the room. I laughed, not wanting to explain that I broke down in the middle of the lobby.

"Oh, sorry. I was talking to this guy Landon. He's actually really cool. We're gonna have coffee later, he works here and says he knows where the good coffee is. I can bring you guys back some if you want." I said already knowing what was going through Rose's mind.

"Well, well, well. Looks who's already putting herself back out on the market. Good for you, Bella. Stick it to that loser. You get that doctor." She said smacking my butt as I walked past to go see how Alice was doing. She was awake now but not by much.

"I've got something for you." I said walking to the back corner where I had put the Alice Pot filled with sunflowers. I brought it back and put in on her bedside table.

"Is that the Alice Pot?!" Alice said with as much enthusiasm as she had.

"Yup. I picked them up this morning. I loved mine. Thank you so much Al. Just don't die on me okay?" I said hugging her. I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if she did die.

"So you saw the note?" She asked quietly. I nodded and then changed the subject before things got depressing.

"Hey did you know that Jeff is married? Seriously we've been to that class like four times now and honestly I had no clue he was married." I asked really not knowing that Jeff had been married.

"Oh, really? I just assumed he was gay or something. I don't know I guess that's cool. I wonder what she looks like if he just wants to spend all his time making pots in the studio with old ladies." We laughed and then her eyes started to drop again. I told her to get her rest that I would be right over there. I figured I would tell her that I was going to get coffee with a hot doctor later.

I paged Landon around 9 wondering if he was still around. Soon enough he poked his head through the door.

"Bella?" He said looking around the room. Rose looked up from her magazine and nearly let her jaw drop to the floor. Jasper looked more confused than ever but didn't really care, he just rolled his eyes and went back to watching his soap opera. He was addicted to that show now.

"Hey, wanna go get that coffee? It's going to be a long night here." I said getting up from my blanket nest on the couch. He smiled and nodded leading me out of the room. Rose gave me a wink when I left that I just rolled my eyes at.

"So, how was the rest of your day?" He asked as we made our way to the way back of the hospital.

"Eh, pretty uneventful. My friend Alice was asleep for most of it, which is good I guess. He boyfriend takes good care of her, so me and my other roommate are really just there to keep the mood light." I said watching as people whizzed past me. "How about yours? I'm sure it was much more interesting."  
"Eh, met a pretty girl today. Then had to leave really quickly to save lives. Nothing too crazy." He said laughing.

"Ha. You sound like my ex. He would always say things like that." Good going Bella. I mentally kicked myself for bringing up Edward. Even if I didn't want a relationship with Landon, I didn't want to burden him with my sad story.

"Lucky guy. So what'll it be?" I hadn't even realized that we had come to a part of the hospital that was basically deserted. "They have to feed the doctors well, we tend to get crabby otherwise." He laughed again, it wasn't a light laugh like Edwards but a hardy, deep laugh that reminded me of my fathers. We ordered our coffee and then sat down.

"So tell me about yourself, Bella." Landon asked, he did not know what he was getting himself into obviously.

"Well, I just graduated from UCLA in premed, and I moved in with my friends Alice and Rosalie. My dad lives in Forks, Washington and my mom, well I like to believe that karma hit her, she died when I was 16. She gave me this scar right here." I traced my finger down the side of my face, "And so this summer I got a job as a nanny to this great little girl, Mackie Cullen. Long story short I fell head over heels in love with her older brother, Edward. We dated all summer and broke up a few days ago when I came out of the water from surfing when I saw him kissing another girl. He claimed that he thought she was me and all but I just cant deal with him right now. I don't even want to think about relationships anymore." I said.

"Sounds like an idiot to me. And it sounds like you need a friend, really badly. So friends? Just friends, no strings attached." Landon proposed, it sounded good to me.

"Sounds good. Anyways I've been taking these pottery classes up at one of the beaches by me to clear my mind, its really cool. The instructor, Jeff is like the coolest guy ever and it seems that pottery is like the second thing I'm best at, surfing being the first." I said filling him in on the last bit of details that I had left out.

"Wait, is the class called Pottery By The Sea?" Landon asked now smiling and chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, I think so why?" I asked puzzled by his sudden amusement that I was taking pottery.

"My dad is Jeff. Once I got out of school he started that with my mom as their like passion project or something like that. I guess it really is a small world." We were both laughing now, who would have guessed. Alice would really get a kick out of this.

We kept talking until about 10:30, when suddenly Landon got another 911 page. I said goodbye and thanks for the decent coffee. He promised that he would go to pottery with me one day, if I still would go while Alice was in the hospital, I agreed. I grabbed four more cups of coffee, just incase Emmett had shown up, before heading back to the room.

When I got there without a doubt, Emmett was sitting in the chair with Rose asleep on his lap. Jasper was still watching his soap opera while Emmett was complaining.

"What's going on, Bellzo?" Emmett asked casually. He wasn't his loud, notorious self right now. I figured he had learned how to be polite in a hospital. Or maybe it was just the grim setting we were all in.

"Nothing, here I brought Starbucks. I figured no one really wanted burnt cafeteria coffee anymore." I said laying the cup holder full of drinks on the table. Everyone grabbed one even Rose, who was now awake and laying back in Emmett's big arms. His arms reminded me of Landon. I hadn't realized just how big Landon was until tonight when he wasn't wearing his coat. He was just a little bit smaller than Emmett.

Jasper finally let us put on some movies to watch throughout the night when his show ended. He wouldn't stop talking about it ever. I almost wanted to break the TV just so he wouldn't watch it in the room anymore. Again, every so often Alice would be sick but Jasper was still the fastest to get to her. We took shifts of sleeping so that if Alice needed anything in the middle of the night someone was there.

I woke up the next morning after a restless night. I couldn't get comfortable in the chair but refused to go home to sleep. I was going to pottery class today with Landon before he had to be on duty. I was meeting him at the studio, and beat him there so I sat down at my usual wheel and started on a new pot. I was wearing Emmett's shorts again and an old mesh tank top of Jaspers I found on the floor this morning. My hair was thrown up in a messy bun on the top of my head.

"Hey Dad! Oh, Bella, you're here already. Sorry bout that." I heard Landon say from the other side of the room.

"You guys know each other?" Jeff asked looking between me and his son, it was awkward to say the least.

"Yup, long story. I met her in the hospital. Her friend is being treated there for breast cancer." Landon answered grabbing some clay and sitting down next to me at Alice's old wheel. Class went as usual, Landon and I made light conversation about both of our childhoods and I told him embarrassing stories about Emmett, Alice and myself. Occasionally his dad would come over and talk with us but generally scolded us for laughing too loudly when class was supposed to be relaxation time.

Class ended and I put my new pot in the kiln. This pot was supposed to represent Rose so I made it tall and slender, I carved her favorite quote into the pot in my best script. 'What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.' We always thought that she just liked it because the word rose was in it. Along the bottom I carved wild flowers growing at all different lengths but all having incredible beauty.

We decided we would go for a walk on the beach before heading back to the hospital, Landon still had about half an hour before needing to be back.

"So tell me about this Edward guy." Landon said, he was really one of the only people I would talk to about Edward besides Emmett since I couldn't really talk to Alice right now.

"Well, he's amazing, that's probably the worst part. He's one of those guys that you first meet and you hate because you know that you can never have him. But I got him, he actually fell for me before I fell for him. We met at a club, he pulled some drunk guy off of me." I proceeded to tell Landon all about Edward when I looked up and saw Edward with Mackie sitting on the beach. Edward was staring straight at me, thankfully though Mackie hadn't noticed yet. I nudged Landon in the ribs motioning towards Edward.

"Well, here lets give him something to be jealous about. Show him what he's missing." Before I could protest Landon had his whole body wrapped around mine and crashed his lips to mine. I didn't like the feeling of his lips moving against mine, it didn't feel right. I tried to push him off of me but he seemed to only react in a more aggressive way. I started to flail hoping that Edward was still watching and would come rescue me again.

"Get off of me!" I finally yelled as soon as his lips got off of mine. His arms were still tightly around me, making it hard for me to breath.

"Oh come on baby, I know you felt it too. You know you want me." He said a small smile playing on his lips.

"I believe she said get off of her." The oh-so familiar velvety voice said from behind me. He grabbed me and I felt the shock go through the spot on my arm he grabbed me from. Before I knew it I was standing behind Edward watching as Edward yelled viciously at Landon.

I started running. I ran fast, faster than I thought I could without tripping. I heard a small voice from behind me.

"Bellsy, is that you?" I heard Mackie calling from where Edward had left her. I didn't stop though, I was afraid if I stopped I would forgive Edward and I just couldn't do that.

"Bella, stop running from me." This voice was closer, and much more stern. It was Edward's. I was about to turn to go up the stairs to get back to the road but Edward cut me off. "Seriously, just stop Bella. Let me explain. I love you." He whispered the last part.

"Edward, stop. If I wanted to listen I wouldn't have just run a mile back to my car. I cant honestly remember the last time I ran a mile. Just please, you broke me once that's enough." I said, I felt the tears forming in my eyes as I looked up to look in his green eyes which were also tearing. I pushed past him and ran up the stairs. I got in my car and slammed on the gas, swerving out into traffic.

I got all the way back to Alice's hospital room, where I found Rose and Mr. and Mrs. Brandon sitting there around Alice who was awake and talking.

That's when I collapsed.

**what the hell just happened to bella. ha. cliff hanger. i know what happens to bella. you dont. review and you will. **


	15. Don't You Forget About Me

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hey readers, okay so the reviews were awesome but there werent a whole lot of them. so lets get a ton for this chapter. i think you guys are gonna like this one. review pleaseee ... why these chapters keep coming out bold...im not sure

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Bella POV

I felt myself hit the floor, waiting for unconsciousness to cloud my thoughts. It never came, instead I felt sobs rack through my body. My whole body was shaking at this point while I just laid on the floor and cried. My life had suddenly turned down hill and I couldn't figure out how to stop it. I had become someone I didn't like, I was becoming a horrible friend to Alice who needed me and I was lying to myself constantly.

I felt two sets of arms pulling me up and walking me over to a couch, later to realize that it must have been Rose and Mr. Brandon. Rose sat on the couch with me rubbing my back as I heard Alice explaining the story to her parents, leaving out some of the unnecessary details like the drinking. I cried probably for a solid two hours, after the first thirty minutes the sobs became soft whimpers escaping like traitors from my mouth.

When the tears subsided all together I looked up at Alice who was looking at me with a comforting look. I shook my head as I walked towards her silently apologizing for being so horrible. She sat up as much as she could in her bed and wrapped her arms around me.

"What's wrong, Bell?" Alice said soothingly as she pulled back to look me in the eye. "It's him isn't it?"

"It's getting so hard to hate him for what he's done to me, Alice. I just I want things to go back to the way they were, when everything was fine. I'm so sorry Alice." I felt the tears starting to spill over my eyes again and brushed them away.

"Silly Bella, everything's going to be fine. Edward loves you, Bella. He really does. I'm almost positive you love him too. So I don't see why you're still sitting at my bedside." She said simply, as if the answer was right in front of me.

"I don't want to get hurt." I barely whispered out. I didn't I couldn't take him back for that soul reason right now. I needed time, I needed to focus on Alice who really needed me right now. If Edward really loved me, he would wait.

"You were willing to risk it before. And don't even tell me the if he loves me he'll wait shit because that's being so selfish." She said sternly this time.

"Mary Alice Brandon! Honestly watch your language!" Mrs. Brandon scolded her daughter for saying shit. Odd.

"Mom, can you please stay out of this." Alice said, now getting frustrated.

"Fine, we'll talk about it later. Main goal right now…get Alice out of hospital. I need you more than I need Edward. He'll just have to wait." I said trying to get her to drop the subject.

"I'll be here when you're done figuring everything out with him, no matter how long it takes." Alice said, suddenly we both realized the shock of her last sentence. What if she wasn't there. She had a high chance of dying right now and we were causing more stress by throwing my failed relationship in the mix. With that we dropped the subject and kept conversation light.

I told her all about the Landon fiasco and then about Jasper and his daily dose of soap operas. She told me what it felt like inside her body right now, she described it like her body was in the middle of a civil war. With that comment Jasper of course added his favorite line – What's so civil about war. Which was tattooed to his ankle.

"I'm gonna go grab some coffee, anybody want anything?" I asked getting up around 10:28 at night. We had just spent all day in that little room, I needed to get up and stretch out a little bit.

"Yeah, I'll go if you don't mind." Jasper said, I looked at him with shock. I nodded once and we left towards the door. Mrs. Brandon promised to keep good tabs on 'Mary' while we were gone. Jasper shot Rose a worried look and Rose nodded in return. As we were leaving the room we saw Emmett's large figure appear infront of us.

"Hey guys. How's she feeling today?" Emmett said while patting Jasper on the back and engulfing me in our usual bear hug.

"She's sleeping right now, we had a pretty relaxed day. She hung out a lot with Bella today. It was good for them." Jasper said as I tried to free myself from the back breaking hug.

"Sorry Bellzo. Anyways I'm gonna go in there. You guys coming right back?" Emmett said setting me back on my feet. We both nodded and parted ways. It was nice walking with Jasper, I liked how calm he always was. Never let 'em see you sweat he would always say.

"So, how are you holding together?" Jasper finally asked breaking the silence. I knew exactly he was talking about Edward and my situation.

"Eh, I've been better. Its hard, deciding whether or not to trust someone with your heart again. It's scary." I said looking straight ahead, I didn't want to look him in the eyes.

"You know, he's a really good guy, he's actually called a few times asking about Alice. He still loves you Bella. He didn't mean to kiss that girl. He told me the whole story. It was his ex from college. She saw him laying on the beach sleeping and I guess she thought it was a good time to attack. She curled up next to him and he just figured it was you back from your surf. That's when he pulled her in for the kiss, thinking it was you, thinking about how lucky he was to have a girl like you that would lay down in the sand after surfing with him. Then when he saw you, he realized it was the biggest mistake of his life, one that would cost him his life. Because, Bella, you are that poor guys life. He's lost without you. Just like you're lost. He's just letting his show." Jasper finished and I was left in awe.

"Well we're here." Jasper said, now lightly acting as if he hadn't just given me the lecture of a life time. We ordered coffees and walked around the hospital for a few more minutes. Jasper was letting my mind wander while we finished our coffee. Jasper was right, I was still madly in love with Edward Cullen. I couldn't now though.

We made it back to the room and Alice was still asleep. I made myself comfortable in my little chair that had become known as the Bella Nest. I fell asleep watching Miracle with Emmett, who was the only one awake at this point. Luckily he didn't take the opportunity to ask about Edward as everyone else had today. I heard him whisper 'night Bella' before I drifted off into dreamland.

Mackie and Esme called me early in the morning asking if it was okay to come and see Alice today. Alice was feeling well today, it was an off day for an every other day treatment plan, so I said yes. They were coming over at 2 so Alice and I had all morning together. Everyone was still asleep except the two of us so we decided to watch old reruns of 90's nickelodeon TV shows. There was a rocket power marathon on for a while and then we switch it to Boy Meets World on Disney. We both fell back asleep around 11 and stayed that way until Emmett sneezed. His sneezes could possible wake the dead.

"Sorry guys." Emmett said turning red and looking down. It was nice not being the one to blush all the time. We all laughed hysterically at how embarrassed this was making him. Rose went to go grab us lunch today from a diner, it was weird thinking about actually leaving the hospital, last time I left was for pottery class.

Alice's condition wasn't getting any better though, she remained really sick. We stayed by her side now, I vowed not to leave and be a horrible friend again after what I did leaving her to go to pottery class with Landon. I hadn't seen Landon since that day, I wondered where he was. I really didn't want to talk to him either though, he kissed me after I told him to get off of me, that wasn't the type of friend I was looking for.

"Hello?" Esme stuck her head in the door followed by little Mackie in one of the outfits that Alice had bought her.

"Hey guys!" Alice called from her bed, her eyes lit up at the new faces she saw. I realized that she didn't see anyone but us and her doctors any time but now.

"How are you feeling Alice?" Mackie asked coming over to me in my nest and crawling into my lap like she used to. She looked up at me with big eyes and then smiled. It was the damn crooked grin.

"I've been better. But hey, I say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and if it does kill you, well I don't know what the rest of that saying is but I'm sure its something philosophical." Alice replied laughing at her own joke, a very Alice move.

Alice and Esme drifted into conversation, apparently Esme brought Alice some new fashion magazines that we hadn't picked up yet and they were discussing the latest trends. Mackie was still in my lap, playing with my hair now.

"You don't smell like strawberries anymore." She said taking another whiff of my hair. I had been showering in one of the spare bathrooms in the hospital so I would never be too far from Alice. I couldn't take the smell of strawberries after I broke up with Edward and I guess I never switched back.

"Sorry Mack, guess I never went out and got more from the store. I've been showering here." I said, making up a lie. I wasn't about to tell her that I couldn't bear the thought of my strawberry shampoo right now.

"I'm hungry." She said, rapidly changing subjects. She looked up at her mom who was still gossiping with Alice. The two of them could go on for hours.

"Esme, I'm just gonna go run Mackie down to the food court. Do you two want anything?" I asked looking between Esme and Alice. I knew Alice wouldn't want anything because of her puke reflexes now. With every dose of medicine she got she got more and more ill every time she ate. They both said no and with that we were off.

"I miss having you around, Bellsy." Mackie said softly as she grabbed my hand. She had been too cool to hold my hand until this moment, I wondered what had changed her mind.

"I've missed you too, bud. It's hard though with Alice in the hospital." I said lightly squeezing here hand.

"Why don't you just hang around the house? I know someone else who would really like that." She said adding the last part in quickly, so fast that I almost missed it.

"Well, that wouldn't be very nice to Alice now would it? I couldn't be that far away from her." I said ignoring the part about Edward.

"Well, Edward could bring me. He's been coming up here to visit Alice every so often, haven't you seen him?" She asked, I looked down at her with a puzzled look. I hadn't seen Edward here once. Maybe he was just saying he was coming here.

"I haven't seen him at all, maybe he's going somewhere else." I spoke out loud still confused as to when he was coming here. Maybe he was coming here while I was asleep, but that would be a little weird. I ran through all the possibilities silently in my head.

"Do you still love him, Bellsy?" Mackie asked in a small voice. I dreaded answering her because of course I still loved him, but I was afraid to say it out loud because I'm scared he'll hurt me again. Luckily we were already at the food court and I ignored her question.

"Oh look a that we're here." I said quickly pulling her over to get some lunch. I avoided her questions like the plague. Finally when I was done shoving my face every time she opened her mouth, we started walking back to the room. When we got there Esme said she wanted to talk to me and we let Mackie climb onto the bed with Alice while they watched a movie.

"You know this is wrong right, dear?" Esme asked. I knew already she was also going to bug me about Edward.

"I know." I whispered.

"He still loves you, he's just too scared that you don't love him back." Esme said leading me over to some chairs in the waiting room.

"I'm scared, Esme." I said as I laid my head in my hands. I was scared, I was more scared than ever right now.

"My best friend is dying, the love of my life is lost and I have no one else besides the two of them. I can't just sit here anymore." I said as she pulled my head to her chest and rubbed my back.

"Shh, dear, it's going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine." She said as I felt the tears clouding my eyes.

"I just, I've never been so alone in my entire life. I'm surrounded by my best friends in the entire world, but I just- I still feel empty. And that kills me, I don't want to be empty anymore. I want to be loved again." I said now letting the traitor tears escape down my cheeks. Esme continued to hold me in her arms.

"You are loved. Don't ever tell yourself differently. You have something that every girl wants, that group of friends you have, they're not your friends, they're your _family_, Bella. You have everything you need right in front of you. You need to reach out to them, to him. He's still waiting for you. And he will continue to wait for you. I an see it right now, because you wont look me in the eye. You still love him, Bella. You both need each other right now." She said stroking my hair. I kept crying for about an hour before Esme helped me up and lead me back to the room.

She was right, we did need each other right now. Well, at least I knew that I needed him. I had decided to run home that night to grab some of my clothes. I left once Alice was asleep and Jasper had come back from grabbing Rose, Emmett and himself ice cream. I had passed saying that if I wanted some I would grab it on my way back. I hoped into my truck and hit the play button. The first song that came on was "Try Me" by OAR.

_Its been such a long day_

_ Followed by long nights_

_ Sit here by myself but it just don't feel alright_

_ you've bee talking to me _

_ everyone talking at me like _

_ try me_

_ I'll let you live, I'll let you breathe_

_ You're surrounded and scared, ain't ya?_

_ nobody's there for you_

_ under it all they don't shine the way you do_

_ but you're tangled up in _

_ everything wrong for you_

_ come back to me_

_ and I will make it be the one_

_ everyone talking at ya_

_ everyone coming at ya _

_ I know its been such a long time_

_ and I still don't let you in_

_ I know it feels like a long time_

_ but you're never coming back again_

_ are you ever coming back again?_

Listening to these words it made me realize that I do need Edward. I needed him more than I needed anything else in my life right now. I started to cry as the next song came on and the OAR CD continued. Let's just say I've never made it back to the house faster that I did that night.

I ran inside still letting the tears fall freely and grabbed all my shit. I grabbed a few new books and some new sweats. I had been basically living in Emmett's shorts and I was in dire need for some new ones. After grabbing all of my stuff I decided I needed that ice cream after all. I walked in there and saw Edward.

_Oh shit._ I thought to myself as I turned on my heel and sped walked back to my car. I got in and laid my head on my wheel not realizing that I had hit the horn. A family turned around with puzzled expressions and I just waved in apology.

"Okay, you are Isabella Swan. You want ice cream. So what if your terribly handsome ex is in there. You are going to go in there and show him what he's missing." Great, now I was talking out loud to no one. After talking myself into I dragged my body out of the car mentally kicking myself for wearing Jasper's sweatpants today and not my own.

By the time I got in there Edward was over at the one person table in the corner looking depressed. I watched as he ate his ice cream and then he looked up. He looked at me with those big green eyes and I thought I might have died if the cashier didn't ask me my order right then. I quickly ordered to go ice cream as I felt Edward's eyes pierce the back of my head.

All I wanted was to turn around and run over and kiss him passionately, but I couldn't. As much as I wanted him, I couldn't do that just yet. But god he was good looking. I focused only on my ice cream being made and paying the cashier. When I went to leave I turned so that my front faced Edward and I caught his eye. I smiled weakly before leaving the ice cream place as fast as I could.

By the time I made it to my car I felt the tears whelming up in my eyes. He looked so unhappy when I saw him that I wanted to kill myself for making him feel that way. I as still muttering to myself by the time I walked into the hospital room, completely ignoring the nurse who yelled at me for having ice cream. What does she know anyways?

"Rough night, Bellzo?" Emmett said punching my arm.

"Don't Emmett." I said as I kept mumbling to myself about what a bitch I was.

"Bell, what's wrong?" Rose asked, we were all almost whisper cause Jasper and Alice were sleeping.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Except I just ran into my ex and he looked so pathetic that I have to call myself a bitch 23498 times before I feel bad enough for making him look that way." I said, almost waking up Alice, who for the first time since the treatment was sharing the bed with Jasper. How did they get like that?

"It's okay, Bellzo. He'll still love you even if you are a major bitch." Emmett said still kidding around, I hoped.

"Shut up." I said, as Rose hit him on the back of the head.

After that happy note, was all sat around and watched movies. It was probably around 2 in the morning when Emmett and I called it quits. Rose had fallen asleep by the time the movie even started. We sat watching all the American Pie movies until we were both extremely tired.

"You going to bed, Bellzo?" Emmett asked, yawning while in the process.

"Eh, probably in a few minutes. How bout you, Em?" I asked, returning his yawn. I guess yawns are really contagious.

"Whenever. I'm pretty tired though." He said, why were having this conversation I would never know.

"That's cool?" I asked still confused about why we were talking like this.

"You're gonna make the right choice, Bella. You know what's right." He said, drop dead serious now. He switched the TV off abruptly.

"Well, night Bellzo!" He said before snuggling into Rose's neck and closing his eyes.

"Night, Em." I whispered snuggling into my couch, wishing it was as comfortable as Edward's arms were. I sighed before closing my eyes. Suddenly my eyes shot open and suddenly understood.

"Holy shit. I need to get Edward Cullen back. I need to tell him that I love him!" I said sitting up acting as if the answer was right in front of me the entire time.

"I knew you would figure it out, ya dingbat." Emmett said.

So that's the plan. I love Edward Anthony Cullen. I wanted him back. I needed him.

* * *

pretty great huh? so review telling me what you want. i quite possibly already have my mind made up though but who knows maybe someone will sway my opinion. reviewww awayyyyy 


	16. Last Request

**so new chapter! be stoked! anyways sorry it took a while to update, i was in NYC for a trip for school. lovely. i dont like the east coast too much. anyways enjoy! please review! **

Edward POV

It had been about two weeks since Bella spoke to me on the beach that day I saw her with the doctor. However I had been seeing her when I would go visit Alice at odd hours. I went at odd hours because I would text Jasper to see if Bella was asleep or not before I went. I knew Bella wouldn't want me there, so I worked around her.

I had just received my text from Jasper saying that all was clear that Bella was passed out from staying up all night watching movies with Emmett. I got in my Volvo and drove over the hospital speeding the entire way. I walked in and made my way up to the room. Everyone was awake except my Bella.

"How are you feeling today, Alice?" I asked as I put new flowers in the vase my mom left here for her.

"I've been better. I'm getting a test done later today or tomorrow to see if I'm improving at all." Alice said, she had really come to terms with this disease thing.

"How bout you guys? How are you all doing?" I asked looking around the room at the distraught looking Jasper to Emmett who was cuddling Rose close to his body in the arm chair.

"Been better." Jasper said, repeating what Alice had just told me.

"Oh, I don't know how would you feel if your best friends were both in pain and you couldn't do anything about it." Rose said shortly, she was never too fond of me these days.

"Tired as hell, bro." Emmett said, he looked like he could go to sleep. I looked between Alice and Emmett then to Bella. I hoped the would pick up on my silent question.

"She's hurting, but I think she's coming around. She's strong, and surprisingly good at pottery." Emmett said, I looked up at the pots that lined the room now. I walked over to one that caught my eye, it was harsh colors of blue and purple and looked as if someone had built a wall up around protecting the light inside. I picked it up and saw the writing on the bottom recognizing Bella's hand writing. 'Everyone thinks if you love someone hard enough, it's all going to work out. They're wrong.' Bella Swan was signed underneath the words that tore through my skin.

I turned to look at the sleeping angel I had hurt so bad. I pushed a piece of her hair out of her face, feeling her nuzzle into my hand.

"I'm going to get coffee, want to join me, Edward?" I was shocked when I turned around and realized that the voice was coming from Rose.

"Sure. Anybody else want anything." I asked politely before leaving with Rose.

"I know everyone's order its fine." She said before swiftly walking out of the room. We walked in silence for a few minutes before she opened her mouth to talk to me.

"Listen, I'm sorry I snapped at you before. It's just hard when your two best friends are in so much pain. I really think she's getting better though, she talks to Emmett a lot about you if you're looking for some insight to her mind." Rose said looking dead at me, her piercing blue eyes startled me. They were never this blue before.

"Thank you Rosalie." I said walking to the coffee stand. I had to remember to talk to Emmett later. We ordered our coffees and I paid. Rose had ordered and extra one and I figured out that it was for Bella without having to ask.

"You have to fight for her." Rose said right before we entered the room. Bella was now awake and I could hear her voice.

"Rose, tell everyone I saw goodbye, I think I'm going to let Bella be in there." I said grabbing her arm before she had the chance to enter the room.

"Sure thing, Edward. You're a good guy you know that?" She said before walking into the room saying something sarcastic about delicious hospital coffee.

I walked outside to get into my car. I drove down along the beach suddenly feeling the need to hang out with Mackie. When I got home I found her lying on the couch watching TV.

"Hey Mack, want to get out and do something later?" I asked as she sat up on the couch to turn and face me. Her face lit up and I realized this was the first time I had been willing to hang out with her since Bella left.

"Sure. What do you want to do, Eddie?" She asked turning the TV off.

"I dunno. Do you have anything you want to do?" I asked.

"We could go to the mall." She suggested. I shook my head no.

"We could go to Disney!" She squealed.

"Sure, why not?" I said. I went upstairs and got dressed in gym shorts and a tee shirt and suddenly realized it was the old rugby shirt Bella always used to wear. I inhaled deeply and smelt her strawberry shampoo still on the shirt. I missed the way I used to bury my face in her hair and just lay with her in my arms.

By the time I got downstairs Mack was all ready to go and grabbing her phone. We got in my car and drove all the way from LA to Irvine to go to Disney for the day. We got there within 30 minutes though because of my insane speeding. I always hated parking the car at Disney, it just never made sense to me the way they had the parking garage set up.

Once we got to the park I bought our tickets and our fast pass cards and Mackie started to pull me through the gates. We were stopped by a photographer right outside the fake castle that was in the center of the park.

"How bout a picture of this happy family?" The photographer asked, not realizing what types of emotions she was bringing up. I looked down at Mackie who was looking at the floor, I could tell she had tears in her eyes. I just shook my head no at the photographer and grabbed Mack's hand and started to walk away. We got to a bench and I sat down pulling Mackie onto my lap.

"What's wrong, Mack?" I asked, her tears were now falling down her face.

"I miss Bella. We used to be a family. The three of us." She said resting her head against my shoulder.

"I miss her too, Mack. I miss her too." I said quietly letting her cry.

"It's not the same, Eddie. You miss her because she was your girlfriend. I miss her because she was my best friend. She was my older sister." Mack said now starting to straighten out.

"You know I would do anything to get her back, Mack. It's just going to take some time." I said reassuringly. However I wasn't sure who I was reassuring, Mackie or myself.

I jumped off the bench and grabbed Mackie's hand pulling her towards the first ride I could find. Last time we were here Mackie was too short to go on the big rides but this year I figured she was going to pass the requirements. We walked around all day riding the rides until we both got sick to our stomachs. We were however, not sick enough to pass up on good old amusement park food.

We walked into Mickey's Café, Mackie comfortably clinging to my back. We got in line and silently waiting, reading over the menu. When it was our turn to order I told Mackie to go first.

"Can I please have mac and cheese?" Mackie asked, then it hit her. Her smile turned into a frown and she jumped off my back moving around to hug me.

"You know what, I think I'll have the same." I paid for our lunch while getting awkward stares from the cashier. Mackie's eyes were brimmed with tears again. I pulled her in close bending down to hug her.

"Don't be sad, Mackie. Its just mac and cheese." I said, silently trying to convince myself that this simple food had nothing to do with my perfect ex. We sat down and Mackie looked at me.

"You know you still love her." She said quietly.

"She could never love me back. What would someone so beautiful see in me at this point. She can have anyone in the entire world." I said truthfully.

"Because, Edward, you gave your hearts to each other unconditionally…that's what true love really is. Its not this fairy tale life that never knows pain, but its two souls facing it together and diminishing it with unconditional love." Mackie said looking up at me through her thick lashes. My mouth must had been touching the floor at this point.

"When did you get so smart?" I asked, my jaw still hanging open.

"Eh, I've been catching up on my One Tree Hill." Mackie said shrugging. Her words rang through my head the rest of the day. We ran throughout the entire park, looking for things to keep our minds off of Bella, but whenever I saw a brunette I always found myself saying how much better Bella looks with brown hair. After a long day we decided to call it quits. I had a big test in one of my classes over at the University tomorrow so we headed back.

Mackie slept on the way home, reminding me of how perfect Bella looked curled up in my clothes, the shirt I was wearing today, which still smelt like her. I missed her. I needed her. I missed the way she felt in my arms when I slept, now alone in my giant bed. I missed the way she would kiss me to wake me up, I miss the way that she used to blush at everything.

That night I slept like crap, looking only at the picture that Alice had given me of me kissing Bella's forehead on the night of our first date. I framed it and put it next to my bed, I looked at it every night. My exam was three hours long today, it was dreadful. I finished with thirty minutes left, and pulled out my ipod. I went to the first playlist I could find, and it happened to be Bella's. We had a date where we made each other playlist for our ipods, I wondered if she still had mine. I put my head down on my desk and tried to sleep, once again though, my body refused, wishing to be holding my Bella.

I got outside and saw it was raining. It rained a total of 19 days last year in sunny LA. It usually threw me off when it rained so I decided I would go over to the hospital that day after the exam, Jasper said Alice had been having a really rough week.

**To: Jasper**

** From: Edward **

** Hey man, is Alice up? I think I'll stop by if that's okay **

I always checked with Jasper before going over to the hospital, I felt almost like I was intruding if I didn't. I got out to my car and was putting all of my books in the trunk when I got his response.

**To: Edward **

** From: Jasper**

** Sure thing man. Bella's out with Rose at some pottery thing so I think that would be really cool if you stopped by.**

Perfect. I wouldn't have to face Bella, I was scared she would yell or scream, which I deserved. I just couldn't bear the idea of not being able to wrap my arms around her when she would cry. I got in my car and drove to get Alice some flowers for her vases that kept popping out of no where. I never dared put flowers in the pot Bella had made, I thought she would get mad.

When I got to the hospital, Jasper was right. No Bella in sight.

"Hey Alice, how ya feeling?" I said softly, Jasper was asleep with the remote in his hand in the recliner.

"Crappy. Its been a hard week." She said weakly, she patted the side of her bed and scooted over a little. I sat down next to her and looked puzzling at her.

"You still love her, don't you?" She asked studying my face.

"That obvious, huh?" I said chuckling to myself.

"What makes you say that?" Alice replied.

"You're the second person to notice in the past 48 hours. My younger sister being the first." This got her to laugh. Alice loved Mackie.

"Mackie always was a smart girl. But yes, it is that obvious." She noted. I simply nodded, feeling at a loss for words.

"Fight for her, Edward. I know that's what I would want a guy to do, to prove me that they truly want me, that they were willing to do anything. And its not just enough to say it, you need to show it." Alice said, patting my knee. She was right. I needed to show Bella that I still wanted her. I just didn't know how to show her.

Alice I continued to talk for about thirty minutes before Jasper woke up and joined in on the conversation. We talked for about another two hours, I had let time really slip and it felt like no time at all had passed. I looked down at my watch and realized that it was three in the afternoon.

"I'm going to grab a cup of coffee, anybody want anything?" I asked as I got up for my place on a chair near Alice that was covered in blankets. Alice said no and Jasper requested his third cup of coffee. I laughed and turned around to go to the door when the door knob twisted.

There she was. My Bella was throwing her hair back like she had a carefree life laughing at something Rose had just said. She had a beautiful pot in her hands and there was no doubt in my mind that she made it. She looked up and her eyes met mine, her gorgeous brown eyes were clouded with mixed emotions as she bore into my soul.

I did the only thing I could think of and that was to walk past her with my head down and dash towards the elevator. I was running full speed the elevator was taking too long so I took the stairs, sprinting down them. I made it outside where it was still raining, the only rainy day projected for this month and I looked up at the dark sky. I sat down on a bench in the rain, yes at this point I was soaked. I put my head between my hands and let out a heavy sigh. That's when it happened.

"Edward!"

**duh duh duh review and i'll post faster. ps this story has about 5 more chapters? soooooo enjoy!! please please please review...i'm considering doing a sequel im not sure though. this story has a unique ending that might be hard to go off of ... but you can decided that later**


	17. Here We Are After The Dark

**you guys are awesome. seriously. keep up the reviewing and i'll keep up the writing. love you guys! **

Bella POV

It was raining today, it never rained, ever. This had to be some creepy sign from god about my life, maybe it was going more downhill. Who really knew though. Rose and I went to pottery class that day and it flew by. We got back to the hospital with our newly finished pots.

"Did you see that old man in the corner? He so had a boner!" Rose said as we walked back into Alice's hospital room after our pottery class. I threw my hair back carelessly and laughed. It felt good to be so free now that I realized what I really wanted in life. I turned the knob and my laughter was stopped.

In front of me stood the reason for my existence. Edward Cullen was standing in front of me staring at me with lust filled eyes. Before I could say anything he looked down at the floor and bolted. I stood in shock as I watched him sprint down the hallway cursing at the elevator. I looked back up at my friends who all stood there with shocked expressions.

"Do something, Bella! Stop giving me those Bambi eyes and go!" Alice shouted at me. I was frozen.

"Bella, do I have to pick you up and carry you? Because you know I will." Emmett threatened. I turned on my heels throwing my vase at Jasper, who hopefully caught it. I had been wearing my wedge sandals today and kicked them off, in the middle of the hospital hallway.

"Damn it. Come on elevator. God damn it go!" I was screaming at an inanimate object. And yes, I knew it couldn't talk back to me.

"Stairs, Bella, stairs!" I heard Rose screaming out door. I pointed back to her acknowledging her and took off towards the stairs. I stumbled down all 6 floors and burst through the doors that led outside.

I stood around catching my breath for a minute looking around for him, hoping he hadn't left yet, I really wasn't in the shape to run all the way back to his house. My eyes scanned the small park they had set up outside the hospital. I saw nothing, then again it was dark from the storm so I kept looking.

"What did I ever do to you, God? Seriously." I said looking up at the sky. There was a huge clap of thunder, once again I took that as my sign and flipped off the sky. Then I saw it. I saw his bronze hair matted to his head which was resting in his hands.

"Edward!" I called out as loud as I could. He still couldn't hear me.

"Edward!" I yelled louder this time starting to run towards him. I was soaked at this point and was stumbling every so often on the slippery rocks without my shoes. "Edward! Edward!" I continued to call.

Slowly he lifted his head up off his hands and looked up at me. I was crying at this point but you couldn't tell. He stood up and didn't advance towards me, he just looked at me.

"Bella?" He whispered softly. I almost didn't hear me.

I decided to put my fears behind me and run towards him. He moved towards me, watching my every move. I took off into his arms and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. He wrapped his arms around my back holding me to him. We were both crying at this moment, letting the tears freely fall.

"I need you, Edward." I whispered into his ear, kissing it lightly.

"I need you more than anything, Bella." He said crashing his lips to mine, still holding me up in the air. He kissed me passionately and suddenly the world started to move at normal speed again. Everything seemed right again. I was back in the love of my life's arms, where I belonged forever.

"I love you, Bella." He whispered against my lips.

"I love you too, Edward." I said kissing him again.

"I'm so sorry, babe. I never meant to hurt you. I love everything about you. I've missed you so much." He set me on the ground, not letting him arms from around my waist. I let my hands tangle up in his hair and just smiled against his skin. We both looked up to the sky as another clap of thunder erupted.

"Can we please go inside before we get sick?" He asked, I was happy being outside rain or shine, as long as I was in his arms again. Before I could answer, he lifted me up bridal style. I let a giggle slip through my lips before I buried my face in his neck, showering him in kisses. Once we were inside, Edward wrapped his arms around his waist, letting my bare feet touch the floor again.

"One more thing, love, why don't you have shoes on?" Edward asked, my eyes filled with tears when I heard him call me love again. I smiled, looking down at my feet.

"I had to catch you somehow." I said playfully smacking his arm.

"Do you think you can ever forgive me, babe?" Edward asked, looking deep into my eyes, letting his green ones burn through my body. I felt weak in the knees.

"I already have." I whispered kissing him again, my lips were at home, my heart was at home, although I never really think I got it back from him the first time.

"I love you." He said as he pulled me up towards the elevator which we rode, kissing the entire way to the 6th floor. Conveniently enough my shoes were still in the hallway so I pulled them on leaning on Edward for support.

"I'm never letting you go again." Edward vowed. I laughed at him and rolled my eyes as I walked back in meeting the stares of 4 very angry looking friends.

"What the hell happened, Bella? We've all been dying. Some more than others." Emmett said, receiving hard slap on the head from Rose.

"Hey everyone." Edward said walking in behind me linking his arms around my waist, pulling my back into his chest. He rested his head on my shoulder and kissed my cheek gently.

"I knew it. I knew it. I knew it." Alice chanted from her bed. She had a triumphant smile spread across her face. I rolled my eyes at her while I intertwined my fingers through Edwards.

"Edward, why don't you take Bella home so you guys can dry off. Seriously, that's the last thing this room needs to smell like, wet upholstery. Then you guys can come back later tonight or in the morning with breakfast." Rose suggested to Edward.

"Sounds good to me, Rose. How about you, Bella? Does that work for you?" Edward asked me.

"Alright. You sure you okay, Al?" I asked looking over at Alice.

"I am now. Now that everything's back to normal." Alice said, still smiling. She reassured me that she would be fine until I got back and I left grabbing Edward's hand. I heard the wolf whistles coming from the room and just shook my head. She was right, now that everything was normal, it all seemed okay.

We ran to Edward's Volvo laughing the entire way. We got to the car and Edward grabbed my hand, everything seemed right. Suddenly I felt the urge to hear his story of what happened, feeling that I needed to know the truth.

"Why did you do it?" I asked quietly, not sure if I was ready for the truth.

"Do what, love?" Edward asked stopping laughing suddenly.

"Kiss her." I said.

"I didn't mean to. I swear, Bella, I was waiting for you to come out of the water. I must have fallen asleep and next thing I knew someone was wrapping their arms around me and I just figured it was you. When I kissed Tanya though, something wasn't right and I knew that. That's why I pulled back. Then I saw you and realized I had just thrown everything my life meant away." He said, speaking softly.

"Oh." That was all I could say.

"I've never regretted anything more than not opening my eyes for just a second that day. I never wanted to hurt you, Bella." He said, a little more confident this time.

"I don't want to get hurt again." I said. He moved my left hand up to his mouth and gently kissed the back of my hand, moving up to my ring finger.

"I promise I will never hurt you, ever again." He said against my hand. We spent the rest of the ride in silence. A type of silence I've missed, the type of silence I found myself getting lost in.

We walked into my house and parted ways to shower. It felt nice to shower back at home, I had just been using the hospital showers for the past month and a half. It hadn't seemed like that much time had pasted but I guess time got lost when sitting inside that room all day. I washed my hair with the strawberry shampoo and quickly stepped out. I nearly tripped on the neatly folded pile of clothes that lay outside my door.

Edward must have run home to get me his clothes while I was in the shower. All of the clothes in front of me now were his. I laughed to myself and slid them on. I walked out to the family room to find Edward, now changed and shirtless, laying on my couch watching TV. I stood there watching him for a while, his Greek God body and messy bronze hair, I realized how bad I had missed him.

"Enjoying the view, love?" He asked before motioning me over to him. He now stood up and wrapped his arms around me. I laid my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

"Remember our first date, when I asked you to dance?" Edward asked into my hair.

"Mhm." I mumbled into his bare chest.

"Dance with me." He said, in an almost commanding tone.

"Edward, there's no music. You're crazy." I said moving out of his grasp. He just tightened his arms around me and started to hum. Soon we were dancing across my family room while I listened to his voice repeat the same chorus.

"_I think that possibly _

_ Maybe I'm falling for you_

_ Yes _

_ There's a chance I've fallen quite hard over you_

_ I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine_

_ Now I'm shining too_

_ Because oh _

_ Because I've fallen quite hard over you_

_ If I didn't know you I'd rather not know_

_ If I couldn't have you I'd rather be alone"_

He continued singing the song softly into my ear as I buried my face into his strong chest. When the song ended he looked down at me and kissed me slowly at first. It turned more passionately eventually leading to me and him both breathless in the kitchen. I was sitting on the counter with my legs wrapped around his waist with my hands tangled in his hair.

"Do you want to sleep here or at the hospital? We could sleep at my house too if you'd prefer. I just want you in my arms tonight." Edward asked after breaking our kiss.

"How about we go to the hospital and sleep there and then go out in the morning and grab some breakfast. Alice's test results should be getting in sometime soon and I want to be there." I said letting my hands fall around to his neck. He nodded and turned around letting me slide onto his back. I kissed his neck every so often, getting a deep moan from his throat.

We got back to the hospital by 10:30 that night and walked in just as Alice was getting her test results.

"We're very pleased to see how progressively the treatment is going. It should only be a few more months before you're allowed to leave, if it continues this way." The doctor said right as I walked in. He turned around to look at me and Alice explained who I was. He nodded saying that he remembered me from the first meeting. He left soon after receiving a 911 page. What was with everyone and 911 pages in this place.

"Al! This is awesome!" I said moving over the Alice's bed engulfing her in a hug. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"I know! I'm really tired though, do you mind if we celebrate tomorrow?" She asked, I could see the strain in her eyes. She was fighting this on hard, it was finally taking a toll on her.

"Of course." Jasper answered before I had the chance to. Rose and Emmett had gone home for the night when they found out that Edward and I were coming back. We let Jasper spread out on the couch that night, seeing as how he had been sleeping in a wooden chair next to Alice for the past week. Edward and I shared the small arm chair that I had been sleeping in.

"Wanna watch some TV first, you don't seem very tired, babe." Edward asked pulling me into his lap.

"Sure, I think American Pie: Beta House is in there if you want to watch that." I said and he nodded. We watched the whole movie laughing at just about everything. I fell asleep soon after resting my head against the crook of Edward's neck. For the first time in a month, I finally slept through the entire night. 

I woke up the next morning upset, thinking that everything yesterday was just a dream. My fears had been confirmed when I woke up and didn't find Edward curled in next to me anymore. I let my head fall against the back of the chair and sighed. It had been a fabulous dream while it lasted.

As I began to fall back into my routine of self pity when the door opened. Edward was standing in the doorway, looking a little disheveled. He smiled at me and set down three bags of what smelt like crappy diner breakfast. He walked over to me and flashed his crooked grin, running his hands threw his hair.

"Good morning, babe." Edward said moving in closer to kiss me.

"Mm. I thought yesterday was a dream. You weren't here when I got up." I said against his lips.

"Actually, you were up when I left. You fell back asleep though so I left you sleeping. I didn't think you would wake up before I got back." Edward said pulling me onto his lap. "No one else is up yet."

I looked around and sure enough, no one was up yet. It was a quite day, one of Alice's big treatment days. I held her hand while they injected her with the next round of chemo, while Jasper held her other hand and kept the trash can near by. Edward never really moved off of our chair, only occasionally to grab some food or run some errands for us. He was actually at class today for two hours. I was talking to Rose and Alice about life with Edward and suddenly my phone beeped.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward **

** hmm I hope you're at my graduation in june. ily.**

Why on earth was he wondering that. I was so confused and showed the text to Alice and Rosalie who couldn't figure it out either.

**To: Edward **

** From: Bella **

** what made you think about that. its only November. I love you too.**

I waited around for his response, knowing very well that it could take a while to get the response out of him. He had to hide his phone from the teacher which apparently is a tricky thing to do in med school.

**To: Bella**

** From: Edward**

** just thinking. ill be with you soon. cant wait to hold you.**

Something about Edwards sudden need for me to be at his graduation made me extremely curious. I let the subject die however because I didn't need any more tension. Alice's treatments had become so strong that I knew we all needed to focus on her.

Edward came home while I was napping. I heard the door shut behind him and opened my eyes.

"Bella, don't get up." Edward said softly.

"Mmm. I missed you." I cooed.

"I missed you too. Go back to sleep, babe. It's late." Edward said pulling me into his body. I snuggled my head into his shoulder. He hummed me a lullaby, one I recognized from the summer, it was my lullaby. I let my eyes shut hearing Edward whisper, "I love you" just as he had that first night.

**hmmm. whats edward up to? and is alice gonna make it through treatment? i guess youll just have to review to find out.**


	18. When The World Ends

****

((Sorry bout the wait. this chapters really long though so enjoy!! please review you guys were freaking awesome last time!!))

Bella POV

It had been 5 months.

21 weeks.

152 days.

3,652 hours.

219,145 minutes.

13,148,179 seconds.

Since Edward and I had gotten back together, and since the doctor last told Alice she was improving. She was being release in three days, only with major limitations. The cancer had been completely gone for about 8 days now, they were just waiting to watch. None of us could have been any happier. We had just spent the last almost 8 months (since August til now, its May) in the hospital watching as our best friend fought for her life in a hospital room.

Two days later, everyone was preparing for Alice's big arrival back home. I was sitting in the hospital waiting while the doctors gave Alice another round of fluids to help with the dehydration.

"Hey Al. Do you know why Edward's all over me about going to graduation?" I asked her, maybe she knew something. Over the past two months he was always asking me if I was going to his graduation that spring or not.

"Nope. But I do know that it's a great excuse for us to go shopping when they get me out of this damn place." Alice basically yelled the part about her getting out of here. I laughed at her attitude towards people these days. She was growing so impatient.

"You heard what the doctor said. You have to take it easy. But I guess if you really want we could go shopping. You have been stuck in here for half a year." I said making a gagging noise.

"Oh shut up. You need to look fabulous for the big day." Alice said. She knew something. I wanted to know.

"Why?" I asked, all I was going to do was sit in a sea of people.

"Because, its not just anyone can be dating the valedictorian of one of the most prestigious med schools on the west coast. You need to represent, Bella. Anyways that old ratty hoodie of his is hardly something you would wear to a graduation." She said, that got me to laugh. I guess she was right. Edward even had to get up and give this whole big speech. He had practiced it on me a few times, well that is what he had done, which wasn't a whole lot. It was good so far, but he was nervous. Did I mention it was a full four months away?

"I guess you're right. Want to go to down to Santa Monica we could even stop in Venice and get hennas if you want when you're free?" I suggested. I didn't mind walking around the Promenade too bad. Venice though, that was my favorite place. It didn't matter who you were there, just that you were there. I loved being on Venice.

"Sure. Make sure Rose comes too. She'll need something to wear too." Alice said, this caught me off guard.

"Rose is going?" I asked confused as to why Rose would be at my boyfriends graduation.

"We all are silly. He's gotten himself sucked into our demented family, he has to deal with the consequences." She said and I suddenly remembered what she was talking about. I had a bad flashback to Jasper's graduation. I was seated with Emmett, Rose and Alice while Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock sat closer to the parents section. We were dead center in the front row. as soon as Jaspers name was called Emmett exploded. He stood up in the middle of everything and made such a scene that we got asked to leave.

"I swear to God if I get kicked out before Edward makes his speech you guys will die." I threatened Alice shaking my fist at her. She laughed and suddenly my phone started to ring.

"Hello?" I answered already knowing who it was.

"Hello, love." Edward's velvety voice rang in my ear.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing, I just got out of class, would you like to help set up for Alice's homecoming? I'm bringing Jasper by now to stay with her." Edward said. I could hear Jasper talking in the background as he got into the car.

"Sure. No ones actually cleaned the house in a while, its probably really gross." I said.

"I'll see you soon then. I love you, Bella." He said.

"I love you too, Edward." I said before slamming my phone shut.

"Leaving?" Alice asked, her face falling a little.

"Yeah, but I'll stay until Jasper gets here in about 2 minutes. Then you can hang out with him. I've got to go get the house ready for you." I said nudging her softly. She laughed and we continued talking about the graduation and what we should get Edward. Before we knew it Jasper was walking up with Edward in tow.

"Hey, baby, how are you feeling?" Jasper immediately asked rushing to Alice's side, he hated being away from her.

"Jazzy, I'm fine! The doctors are just trying to get more fluids into me. Which on that note actually. Can you help me up so I can use the bathroom?" Alice asked, without hesitation being lifted by Jasper. He helped her to her feet and steadied her as she took her steps to the bathroom. It was so great to see her walking again.

"Al, I'm gonna go. I'll be back later. Want something for dinner?" I called before she made it to the bathroom.

"Sure. How about some In and Out?" She asked and I nodded saying goodbye to her and Jasper. We had been sneaking food in here for months, we had gotten really good at it.

"Hello, love." Edward whispered in my ear. I giggled and grabbed his hand as we made our way out of the hospital. We said goodbye to the usual doctors and security guards, we even said goodbye to Landon. He had been working down in San Diego so I never really saw him anymore. I think that was for the best though.

Edward drove fast through the windy streets of Manhattan Beach, faster than usual. He squeezed my hand every once and a while, giving me his crooked grin.

"Why are we going so fast, Eddie?" I asked using his old nickname. I giggled after I said it watching his smile fade slowly.

"So that we can finish faster and I can have you all to myself, Isabella." Edward retaliated with my full name.

"Touché." I said. He laughed at this and pulled into my driveway.

"Home sweet home, my Bella." Edward said getting out to open my door. He grabbed my hand and we walked in. Emmett and Rose were already inside cleaning when we got there.

"Hey guys." I called, screaming over the vacuum that Emmett was trying to work.

"Its about time! Bellzo how do you get this damn thing to move?" Emmett said turning the vacuum off in a fit of fury. I laughed at him and grabbed the vacuum. We all worked on the house for about 2 hours before it was pretty clean.

"You guys wanna grab some lunch? Its time to feed the toddler over there." Rose said pointing to Emmett.

"Surely. How about you Edward? Want lunch?" I asked moving myself towards Edwards arms.

"I'd love to." So with that we all climbed into Emmett's monster Jeep. It was so big that Edward had to help me into it. We drove to Beach Pizza and ordered a massive amount of food.

"So Big E, excited about the big day?" Emmett asked.

"I can't wait to be out of school. My speech though, its shaky." Edward responded.

"For once, Edward Cullen is at a lost for words." I said sarcastically. I knew that if we were walking Edward would through me over this shoulder right now and run around.

"Thanks, Bella." Edward replied. "Hows everything at the new garage?"

"Its good. Oh we got the new shirts in if you two want one. I would guess you'd share but you can each have your own if you want." Rose answered. Emmett and Rose had started their own garage called Under The Hood. It was Emmett's idea.

"That's so cool, Rose!" I said, I was truly excited for them. "Have you guys picked a date yet?" I asked, almost forgetting that they were engaged.

"Well- uh." Rose started. She looked at Emmett and I guess he got the picture.

"Well, Rosie and I we uh. Wewentdowntocityhallandjustgotmarriedthere." Emmett spit out really fast.

"What?" I asked, honestly I had no clue what he had just said.

"We. Went. Down. To. City. Hall. And. Just. Got. Married. There." Emmett now sounded out. I could feel my jaw hit the floor.

"With everything going on with Alice, we just wanted it to be official, we never really wanted a big deal anyways. If we do change our minds though we can always just renew our vows and have a big deal." Rose cleared up.

"Well, Alice is gonna be upset to say the least. But congratulations!" I said hugging Rose and then hugging Emmett. Our pizzas came out soon after and we all ate continuing our conversations. We quickly finished eating and Edward and Emmett split the bill while Rose and I talked about shopping.

"Its only like 3:45, you guys just wanna watch a movie or something until dinner time? I think Jasper wants alone time with Alice." Edward suggested when he got back to the table. We all agreed that would be nice and headed back to the house.

"Lets watch Miracle." Emmett suggested. It was his favorite movie. It was about the 1980s US hockey team winning the gold medal against all odds. Rose and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Nope." Rose said and swiftly got up and put on the Notebook. I laughed and walked over the where Edward was now lying down on the couch. I grabbed a blanket from my bed in the other room and laid down with him letting my head rest on his chest. His hand ran soothingly up and down the small of my back almost coaxing me into a gentle sleep. I kept inhaling his scent, one that couldn't be matched to any cologne in the world.

I tilted my head upwards and tugged on his free hand, which was securely wrapped around mine. He chuckled and looked down. I moved my lips to his and let them mold perfectly. We laid there kissing for a while before I let sleep overcome me unwillingly.

I woke up feeling grogy, realizing I hadn't gotten much sleep lately. I had been busy with Alice's coming home and getting a lot of her paperwork sorted out. I opened my eyes and saw Edward's were still peacefully shut, his breathing shallow and even. Rose and Emmett were no where to be found but I saw a note on the coffee table. I gently reached out and grabbed it.

_Bell & Edward-_

_We went to get Alice's In and Out and bring it to her. You two were passed out so we let you guys sleep. Meet us at the hospital when you wake up. Love- Em and Rose_

I looked over at the clock and saw it was almost 7. I laughed at how lazy we must have seemed. I reached up and kissed Edward lightly, trying to gently bring him back to consciousness. That however, didn't work. He slept right through it. Next I tried whispering in his ear, and again, he slept right through it. Drastic times call for drastic measures and I remembered the time I woke him up in San Diego. I carefully crawled onto his lap, straddling his waist. I began tickling his sides trying not to burst out laughing. He shot right up looking around frantically.

"Bella!" He said, slightly pissed off, but more confused. "What time is it?"

"About 7. Time to get up, Eddie!" I said climbing off his lap to go change into warmer clothes. It was starting to get colder out as the nights went on.

"Not so fast." Edward said grabbing my waist pulling me back into the couch. He flipped us over so that he was on top, tickling my sides. I laughed until I cried then begged him to stop.

"Not so nice now is it, love?" He asked, whispering in my ear. I lightly slapped his chest and untangled myself from him. I kissed his lips before getting up and heading to my room. I pulled on a pair of jeans and my old sweatshirt from high school. I was captain of the surfing team through high school. I walked back out into the family room to find Edward stocking the fridge with sodas and water that had been sitting on the floor.

"Hmm, wearing your own name today?" He asked, feigning hurt. I had completely forgotten that the back of this sweatshirt said SWAN in big letters.

"Yup. Its only fair, my last night has been neglected." I said wrapping my arms around his neck. He wound his arms around my waist pulling me closer.

"My last name looks better on you." He said smugly. He bent down to kiss me and then pulled away. He laughed, I imagined my face was pretty disappointed looking.

We made our way back to the hospital just in time to see the doctor removing the IV from Alice's hand. Rose was sitting there with the camera ready to go and snapping pictures of the glorious moment. Jasper was on Alice's other side opposite the doctor holding her hand and whispering in her ear. Whatever he was saying was making her blush and giggle. Emmett was sitting in a chair watching Rocket Power. He found an old school Nickelodeon channel and watched it nonstop.

"You did it, Al!" I said from my cage of Edward's arms. I leaned back into him and he kissed my head. Jasper had at this point, hopped up into the bed with Alice and was now sitting behind her with her between his legs. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Its so good to hold you again, Alice." He said, probably not meant to speak that loudly but he was on cloud nine. She just nuzzled into him and shut her eyes.

"The doctor said you have about 15 more minutes just to make sure that all the discharge papers go through and then we can take you home." Rose said, who was now sitting on Emmett's lap, who happened to still be glued to the TV.

We sat there for the next fifteen minutes all staring at the clock. Edward, Emmett, Rose and I all went around to make sure that we hadn't missed anything when packing up all of the stuff. Emmett and Edward loaded the car while Rose and I dressed Alice. Jasper went to go grab Alice a diet coke from the vending machine down the hall.

"I'm so proud of you, Al." I said.

"Me too." Rose added.

"Thanks guys. Oh, hey Bell can you grab that purple bag over on the table?" Alice asked. I grabbed the bag and brought it back to the bed. Alice pulled out three velvety boxes. She handed on to both Rose and I and we looked at her in shock.

"I got them made for us, as a thank you for everything. And a reminder that we're family, the three of us, nothing can change that." Alice said. She prompted us to open to slender box and we did.

Inside each were silver bracelets with three interlocking circles of brightly colored stones. There was a turquoise circle, a diamond circle, and a yellow circle.

"Alice's they're beautiful." I said admiring the way the light hit every face of the stones.

"Thank you so much, Al." Rose said. We all hugged each other. That night we finally brought Alice home. It was a shaky first night but luckily Jasper, Edward and Emmett stayed the night and helped out. Well, Jasper and Edward helped out. Emmett watching TV, again. It was well past midnight before I turned to crawl onto the couch with Edward. We let Jasper and Alice have the bedroom tonight. Edward has asleep when I got to the couch, I tried not to wake him up when I slid next to him. Luckily our couch was huge.

"I'm sorry, go back to sleep." I said as I watched his eye lids flutter.

"I love you, Bella Swan." Edward said, pulling my back against his chest.

"I love you too, Edward Cullen." I said before I let sleep overcome me too.

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed. I immediately frowned and found a little slip of paper. On it, it said, _B- had to run to early class. have fun with Alice today, get something pretty for graduation on me. don't fight me. I found this last night too in one of Alice's bag. I have my phone if you need me. love E._

I unfolded the paper and found Edward's American Express and a silver chain. I immediately grabbed it in my heads and a tear slipped down my cheek. It was the necklace Edward got me on our first date. It was the ring with the blue stone on the silvery chain that I had given to Alice in a breakdown. I slid it around my neck and clasped it firmly to me.

"Come on, Bella! Its my first day back the least you could do is hurry!" I heard Alice call from Rose's room. I found a pair of Edward's shorts and a wife beater and walked into Rose's room.

"Haven't seen that in a while." Alice said, pointing to my necklace. I smiled in return and we were off. We were first off to Santa Monica, planning on meeting up with everyone later in Venice for late lunch at the Side Walk Café.

"Lets save Bella for last." Alice said as her and Rose tried to make a game plan for the shopping.

"Sounds good. Lets try Forever 21 first, maybe Urban. I think we can probably find something for Bella at American Apparel." Rose said, adding to Alice's enthusiasm. So with that we were off, looking for the three perfect dresses.

"I'm gonna try these on guys." Rose said, now holding a stack of dresses in her right arm.

"Why are they all so baggy, Rose? Usually you're all game for the tight fitted dress." Alice asked eying the dresses Rose had picked up.

"Oh, uhm, uh, no reason really." Rose said before quickly disappearing into the dressing room. I turned too look at Alice.

"That was weird." I said before going back to helping Alice find a dress. She had put on a few pounds during her round of chemo from the force feeding IV but was still terribly petite. If you didn't know her well you wouldn't be able to tell she gained weight.

Alice couldn't find a single dress she deemed acceptable for graduation in Forever 21 and just decided to go to Urban Outfitters after Rose was done.

"Gonna get that sac dress, Rose?" Alice joked, Rose still insisted on getting a loose fitting dress.

"You just got out of the hospital, Al. Don't push your luck." Rose said back paying for her dress and turning to leave. She was being awfully moody today. She seemed to be hiding something.

"Alright, lets not kill each other." I intervened pulling them towards Urban Outfitters. It didn't take Alice long at all to find a simple dress. We were off schedule and rushed to American Apparel to find my dress.

"Okay Bella, I know Edward gave you his credit card so you're just going to have to suck it up and try on what we pull off the rack." Alice said.

"Yeah, anything we say is fair game, Bell. Trust us." Rose added, and with that they were off. They had me try on stack after stack of dresses finally ending on the most complicated on in the end.

This dress was simple and complex at the same time. It was a simple bright blue color with a white rope. The rope is what threw me off. You could tie this dress in over 200 ways and trust me when I say that Alice and Rose made me try on all 200.

We finally agreed upon the way that was terribly complicated. The rope twisted under my bust and back up around my back giving me a backless design and then it wove around my collar bone.

"Okay, we have exactly thirty minutes to get shoes and meet up at Venice. It only takes about three minutes to get to Venice if Bella drives the way she does to get to that surf shop." Alice had mapped out where we would get shoes and was already on the move.

Over the next half hour we got me a pair of strappy golden gladiator sandals that were thankfully flat. Alice decided that none of us should get heels due to having to walk across the grass for the ceremony.

"Rose are you sure you're just going to wear your black rainbows?" I asked, watching as Rose situated herself in a chair near us.

"Yeah." She said curtly.

"Rosie, what's wrong? You can tell us. I'm not made about you Emmett getting married without us. A little upset I missed it but I'm not mad if that's what you're worried about." Alice said, stopping to look directly at Rose.

"You know?" Rose asked.

"Don't look at me I didn't say two words." I said putting my hands in the air. Alice giggled.

"I overheard you guys talking about it in the hospital one day." Alice admitted.

"Well, anyways, that's not it. I just I…" Rose began.

"It's okay Rose, you can tell us anything. We're family." I added.

"I'm pregnant." Rose said, now she was beaming and grinning from ear to ear.

"Rose that amazing!" I said while Alice shrieked.

"Emmett and I were going to tell everyone at lunch today but I couldn't keep it from you guys." Rose said.

"So that's why you wanted a baggy dress and comfortable shoes. How far along are you?" Alice asked finally putting it all together.

"About two months. We wanted to make sure everything was okay with them before we told you guys." Rose said still smiling like crazy.

"WAIT! DID YOU JUST SAY THEM?!" Alice was back to her screeching.

"Yeah." Rose laughed. "I'm having twins!" Rose said, growing increasingly more excited. As if reading my mind she said, "Girl and a boy."

"Have you picked out names yet?" Alice asked as she paid for her shoes and I paid for mine. I didn't even notice the shoes that Alice bought.

"We were thinking Emmett for the boy, and Anabelle for the girl. We're not sure yet though." Rose said, we were now walking towards the car to go and meet with the guys.

"Wow, so your now Rosalie Hale McCarthy. Are you guys gonna get a house?" Alice asked, suddenly upset with the idea of Rose leaving.

"We are, but we're going to stay in the area. I wouldn't leave Manhattan Beach if they paid me. Plus you guys are here, that's where my home is." Rose said climbing into the car. We made it to Venice Beach in no time, Alice was right, my way was faster.

We saw Emmett first, his huge figure standing out of the crowd. I ran up to him and jumped on his back.

"Congratulations." I said quietly not sure if he had told Edward and Jasper.

"Thanks Bellzo." Emmett said and pulled me around into a bear hug. He then passed me over to Edward who greedily took me into his arms.

"Hmm, brother – sister kind of thing?" Edward asked. He had grown used to calling me and Emmett brother and sister as everyone else had. We were the closest two out of the whole group.

"Basically. Emmett's gonna be a daddy." I whispered into Edward's ear. His face lit up and he smiled. He patted Emmett on the back and hugged Rose. Jasper stood there confused looking around at all of us.

"What is going on?" Jasper asked cautiously.

"I'm having twins!" Rose said after Edward put her down.

"That's so awesome, Rose!" Jasper said hugging Rose and slapping Emmett around.

"Finally did it, huh big guy?" Jasper joked before Emmett turned to smack Jasper. He was too quick for Emmett and grabbed Alice's hand and rushed towards the café. Edward and I were last to make our way to the table, which was settled in the corner on the outside so we could watch all the people walk by.

Lunch went by basically just talking about the babies. It was May 1 now, so Rose was due in October. We had the summer to set up her new houses and plan for the babes. Emmett had bought a house the other day, right down the street from us. Conveniently enough it was right in between our house and Edward's house. This all seemed so right.

The next month we spent buying things for the babies and painting the rooms inside the house. It was huge. I guess they could afford it from owning their own garage with Rose's specialty being muscle cars which were found everywhere here. There were four bedrooms, the master bedroom, the nursery, and then what would later become to twins bedrooms. The nursery would be changed into a spare bedroom when the twins were older and in their own bedrooms.

Today's the day of Edward's graduation. I hadn't seem him a whole lot over the past month, mostly just at night when I would sleep over or he would sleep here. He had finals and his big test for the hospital. But today I would finally get to hear the finish version of the speech.

Alice and Rose, who had again gotten bigger, woke up me early this morning to get ready. I woke up to the smell of coffee outside in the kitchen. I dragged myself out of bed and unlocked my door. Alice had now moved into Rose's old room and we both had separate rooms.

"Mm, that coffee smells good." I mumbled.

"Well we got you a frappicino so you better enjoy it. Its time for Bella Barbie." Rose said getting up to give me a hug.

"Rose you look great!" I said looking over her outfit. She was already dressed in her flowing purple dress that hid the beginning of her bump. Her hair was up in a messy ponytail that allowed pieces to fall down and frame her face. And of course, the black Rainbow flip flops were securely holding her swollen feet to the ground.

I turned to see Alice ready to go as well. Her spikey hair had grown back in, thanks to medication that made it grow faster the doctor prescribed. The pink dress hung effortlessly off of her body, which now had more distinct curves than before the cancer. Both of their make up were perfectly natural looking. I wasn't even sure if Rose was wearing any.

We ate breakfast talking about Rose's latest trip to the doctor and how well the twins were progressing. She said Emmett's been holding down the fort at the garage while she's just being hanging around. Finally it was time to start poking and beautifying me so Alice shoved me into the shower and cleaned up breakfast.

I quickly got out of the shower and sat down letting Rose blow dry my hair then through in the curlers. We watched TV while we waited for the curlers to set, watching Greys Anatomy play across the screen. I heard a soft knock at the door and went to open it. There stood my personal Greek god.

"I just needed to see you. I'm headed over to the school now and I just need to see you to calm myself down." Edward said, not taking one breath.

"Edward, you're going to be fine." I reassured him. We stood there for a minute looking at each other when he finally burst out laughing.

"Cute curlers, love." He said, doubling over in laughter. I swatted at his arms and pushed him out the door.

"That's it. Go to school before you miss rehearsal." I said standing up on my tip toes to kiss him goodbye.

"I'll be looking for you in the audience during my speech, so don't go anywhere." He said kissing me back.

I laughed and shut the door turning back to Alice and Rose who were getting ready to finish me off. Rose too the curlers out of my hair while Alice helped me into my dress and shoes. They finished my make up and we headed towards the door.

"Well, lets do this."

((well there ya have it. alice made it!! pleaseeee review!! okay lets seriously get a ton of reviews now. i have so many hits and about three reviews and over 400 hits? seriously. how bout everyone tells me their favorite thing about the story or the names they want for the kids or something they want in a future chapter. i love reviews. so please guys lets go. maybe ill even update before i go to san diego next week to get my wedding dress fitted))


	19. All Or Nothing

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AN- this chapter speaks for itself. its so dramatic. i love it. review away -- im still looking for your favorite part. also im thinking instead of doing a squeal just starting a new story but i'll let you guys decide when its all over. it might get dull if i just keep going where its going to end.

Bella POV

We walked onto the grassy field, which was now filled with people. We quickly spotted Emmett and Jasper, both wearing khaki shorts and button down shirts. Emmett's shirt was too small in the arms though and he had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"Bellzo! Ready for the big speech? How's big E doing?" Emmett asked swooping me up into a bear hug.

"He'll be fine." I said, now that Emmett had put me down on the ground I began scanning the crowd. I didn't see a single familiar face. I kept looking around hoping to spot Mackie or Esme or Carlisle, that's when I saw her. The blonde girl from the beach; I nudged Rose and Alice and pointed to her.

"That's her." I said weakly. I heard a little voice behind me and saw Mackie, who was now 12 standing behind me.

"Bellsy!!" She exclaimed and ran towards me. I grabbed her as she jumped into my arms and swung around.

"Mackenzie?" I heard a concerned voice shout over the crowd. Carlisle. I set Mackie back down and grabbed her hand as she led my friends and me to where her parents were.

"Bella, it's lovely to see you again." Carlisle said, getting up to hug me. He moved one to getting introduced by Mackie to all my friends while I said hello to Esme.

"Hi Esme." I said hugging her as well. She pulled back and looked me up and down.

"I have to say even with everything that's happened to our Alice, she is still such the stylist." Esme said, which made me laugh.

"Anyways, we saved these seats for you guys. Alice said there would be 5 of you. I think Mackie wants to sit next to you though." She said. Sure enough I looked around and there were 8 chairs with the words CULLEN over them.

"Thank you so much, Esme." I said, embracing her again.

"Bellsy, I want to sit next to you." Mackie said, pulling me down into the chair next to her.

"I'd love to sit next to my favorite little sister." I said to Mackie, which made her laugh. Then I heard Carlisle mumbling to someone. I turned to see the blonde girl right beside him.

"Tayna, you have to leave. He doesn't want you anywhere near here. We don't want you here." Carlisle said. I watched as her face turned into a frown.

"But Eddie does too want me here." She whined back. I was about to stand up but Emmett beat me to it.

"Listen here Barbie, Edward is in love with my little sister over there, if you mess it up again, so help me god, you won't be walking by yourself anymore. I suggest you leave." Emmett nearly growled. Everyone looked at him with wide eyes, that was the first time in a while any of us had seem him get angry and serious.

Tayna's eyes had tears in them as she looked between Emmett and myself, probably looking for a family resemblance. Tanya stormed away, the tears now falling down her cheek.

"Way to go, Emmett." Carlisle said. "I've been trying to get her to leave since we got here. She's just been hanging around where ever Edward's been." We all laughed and continued to talk.

"I am so hungry." Rose said, looking around for any type of food stand.

"You can just excuse Rose, she's pregnant with twins. Eats about a horse a day." Alice said, somehow it didn't seem rude coming from the little pixies mouth.

"Well, the whole thing doesn't start for about another half hour if you guys want to wander around and look for food." Esme suggested. "I remember being pregnant with this one, and craving everything all the time." She said gesturing towards Mack. Rose, Alice and Jasper left, leaving me with Emmett and the Cullens.

"I'm gonna find a bathroom before Eddie goes up there." Mackie said, getting up to leave.

"I'll go with you, Mack." I said getting up to follow, "Anyone else?"

"Oh why not? Better than missing the speech." Emmett said, erupting in his roar of a laugh. We chuckled when parents in front of us turned around to see what the commotion was about.

While we were walking Mackie was going on and on about going to be a 7th grader and all the drama that middle school brought. I just kept chuckling to myself remembering my middle school years.

"Hey Em, remember middle school?" I asked Emmett, he would get a kick out of remembering the memories.

"Yeah, you were the new kid in 5th grade. Didn't talk to a single on of us until middle school. Then Alice decided to befriend you for some odd reasons and you were sucked in ever since." He said, silently replaying my embarrassing middle school days.

We reached the bathroom in no time and parted ways with Emmett.

"Bella, do you love my brother?" Mackie asked me while we waited in line.

"Of course I love Edward, Mackie." I said laughing at the thought of what it would be like to not love him.

"Are you gonna marry him?" Mackie said, looking up at me with those big green eyes.

"Maybe someday. I would like that though. Then we could be real family, you would actually be my sister." I said hugging her to my side. We finished up in the bathroom and took our seats next to Esme and Carlisle. Emmett got bored waiting for us and bailed while we were still in line.

Right before the graduates were about to appear I felt my phone vibrate by my foot. I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone.

To: Bella

From: Edward

I love you.

To: Edward

From: Bella

I love you too, you're going to do great. I'm straight ahead of you when you're making your speech.

To: Bella

From: Edward

That's all I needed to hear. see you soon.

I put my phone away smiling. That's when the graduation march began and we all stood. Edward walked past us to get to his seat and Emmett began the embarrassing whooping. Edward looked at us laughing, flashing me my favorite crooked grin. He looked dashing in his cap and gown and the lei his school provided for everyone to wear. Once everyone was seated an old man came on the stage and towards the mike.

"Let me be the first to congratulate the graduates on earning one of the hardest degrees there is to earn. 64 years ago I graduated this program as well, so I know just how hard it was for them to make it this far. And without further of due, it is my honor to introduce to you, the head of your class, Edward A. Cullen." The old man said, leaving the stage to get back to his seat.

Edward stood up in the row of caps and walked to the stage. He was nervous, but would never let one. He kept his stature and scanning the crowds while the applause continued. His eyes met mine and he smiled. Not just any smile by a crooked grin plastered itself right on his face. When the applause stopped he began his speech.

_"Thank you sir. We have much to be thankful for. Here at University of California San Diego we have received a great education thanks to the wonderful staff. We are prepared to move on and to take on whatever challenges come next in our lives. _

_Fellow graduates, I want you to know what a great gift being as prepared as we are is because that cannot be said for all schools. We have had a high degree of academic excellence and will greatly benefit from what we have learned here._

_We can also be thankful for our families. These past four years have presented us with a lot of ups and downs and it is good to know that we had our families in our corner, supporting us along the way. Thanks Mom and Dad. I would not be here today without you._

_It's been said that the saddest thing a man will ever face is what might have been. But what of the man who's faces with what was? Or what may never be? Or what can no longer be? Choosing the right path is never easy. It's a decision we make with only our hearts to guide us. But sometimes, we find our way to something better. Sometimes we fight through the regret and remorse of our mistakes, our malice, and our jealousy, and the shame we feel for not being the people we were meant to be. And that's when we find our way to something better. Or when something better finds its way to us."_

He paused in his speech, looking straight at me as the words sunk it to everyone in the audience. I saw his hand fidget with something in his pocket, only to be removed and run through his messy hair. He smiled at me before continuing with his speech.

_"I never thought I would make it here. In high school, I was your stereotypical jock who didn't care about anyone but myself. I never had a solid group of friends, just a collection of people who wanted to be friends with the quarterback, something was missing in my life. When I went to college that same void was in my heart, something was still missing, I found comfort in my college girlfriend, only to come back from my rigorous 4 hour biology lab to find that she was sleeping with my roommate. That's when I knew I was coming here. I threw myself into biology, determined to forget about my life, which was already down the drain, and to fix others. Here I am today, standing in front of my fellow, now doctors, realizing that I have achieved my dreams. That everyone here has had that similar, I want to help people, moment in their lives and that's why we are all here today. _

_I learned that you can choose to blame your circumstances on fate, or bad luck, or bad choices, or you can fight back. Things aren't always fair in the real world, that's just the way it is. But for the most part, you get what you give. Let me ask you all a question. What's worse- not getting everything you wished for or getting it all but finding out its not enough? The rest of your life is being shaped right now, with the dreams you chase, the choices you make, and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life is a long time, the rest of your life starts now. _

Everyone erupted into applause as Edward finished speaking, leaving the words 'the rest of your life starts now' ringing in everyone's ears. I watched as he looked at me, his eyes sparkling, hand in pocket waiting for something. I expected him to get off the stage when his speech was done but he just stood there waiting. He kept his eyes locked on me while he waited for the applause to stop.

I looked over at Alice who was staring forwards, looking very pleased with herself. She saw me looking over at her and just grinned like a mad man. What the hell was going on. Suddenly everyone got extremely quiet, as if they knew what was going on. Edward moved towards the mike again, never once taking his eyes off of me.

_"I have one more thing I'd like to mention before I sit down and our degrees are handed out. Someone very special to me is here today. She reminded me what it was like to be in my 20's again, because I was so lost in school work, I had acted like a 50 year old. Bella, can you come up here for a minute."_

He said this nodding his head at me. I shook my furiously. I would make such

fool of myself if I went up there. Suddenly everyone around me, people I knew and people I didn't were encouraging me to go up on the stage. Edward stood there with a grin on his face nodding his head 'yes'. Finally when I didn't get up out of my chair, Emmett came over and flung me over his shoulder. I blushed a deep red realizing I was in a dress and probably on display for everyone to see. Everyone applauded when I was finally put down on the stage next to Edward and Emmett took a bow.

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, Isabella Swan. Thanks Emmett. Anyways like I was saying, without Bella, I wouldn't be standing here before any of you. Bella, I love you with all of my heart, you are my life. I want what's best for you which is why I've waited to do this for so long."_

Edward lowered the mike and got down on one knee. He slid a little black box out of his pocket, and looked up at me. Oh Jesus, I thought, Mr. X is proposing to me! This is why he wanted me to come so bad!

_"Isabella Swan, I love you more than anything in this world. I knew from the time in San Diego that this was it for me. Will you marry me?" _

The crowd went completely silent, I felt as though they had melted away leaving only Edward and myself up on the stage. I looked into his green eyes and saw nothing but compassion and desire.

"Yes." I whispered at first, "Yes." I repeated more loudly this time. He slipped the ring onto my finger and lifted me up into the air swinging me around. I could hear the roar of the crowd, bringing me back to reality. He kissed me gently, mumbling 'thank you' against my lips.

I walked back to my seat, as did Edward. I wiped away tears that were trickling down my face and looked around the crowd. Almost every woman in the place had some type of tissue up to her eyes and dabbing as to not ruin her make up.

"Congrats." Were whispered from everywhere and by the time I got back to my family, the ceremony was beginning as Edward's classmates took the stage. That's when I spent time noticing my ring. It was gorgeous. It was a simple silver band, with one large diamond in the center; surrounding the diamond were a ton of blue sapphires that caught the light perfectly. My hand was grabbed from every direction when I got back to my seat. Esme and Carlisle were the first to admire it, then my arm was yanked towards Alice and Rose.

I watched as Edward crossed the stage beaming, he received his medical degree and turned to face the crowd. He glided down the stairs staring at me the entire time. I could only imagine my face mirrored his emotion. Emmett was making a fool of himself again, screaming Eddie with Mackie down on the end of our row. While I was up on stage she went over to see Uncle Emmett so that she could see better.

Soon enough all the graduates were done, and the tassels were turned. Dr. Edward Cullen. I liked how that sounded. However I liked Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen a whole lot better. We waited for Edward to reappear from the Hall, he had to change out of his gown and cap. He came back out wearing a stripped button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up showing a paisley pattern. His khaki shorts and Rainbow flip flops completed the look. His lei was still hanging around his neck.

Edward came over to me first hanging his lei around my neck pulling my waist closer to his body.

"You have just made me the happiest man on earth." He whispered into my ear. He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed.

"I love you, Edward Cullen." I said softly.

"I love you too, Isabella Swan." He mumbled against my lips before crashing his to mine. He pulled away after a few seconds only to say, "I can't wait til I can call you Isabella Cullen."

"Me neither." I said giggling.

Edward made his way around our group of friends and his family hugging each person as he went. He received many slaps on the back and high fives from other classmates. A ton of parents also came up to the two of us and congratulated us.

Edward's hand slipped into my left one and pulled me towards the parking lot, telling everyone we would meet them back at the house for the party. It was Alice's first big project, well besides helping Edward plan this, but her first social event was Edward's graduation party.

"I hope you're not angry that I waited til graduation to do this." Edward said kissing my ring before kissing each finger on my left hand.

"Not at all. I just don't really understand." I admitted.

"I wanted you to have the world as you're playground. I want to be able to buy you anything in the world that you could ever want. I couldn't do that before, now though, its going to be different. I already have a job opportunity and I'll be able to give you the world." Edward explained, looking somewhat ashamed.

"Edward, look at me. I would marry you even if we had to live in a trailer, live off of frozen dinners and never get to buy an expensive thing again. I want you, I may be able to see the world now, to do everything I've dreamed of, but none of it matters if you weren't going to be there. Don't feel like you have to buy me anything for my love, you, yourself, won that over a long time ago." I said, blushing. Every word of it was true.

"I love you." Edward said.

"I love you, too." I said back. "Lets get married in August, on a beach?" I said, but it came out more of a question than a statement.

"Sounds perfect." Edward mumbled and that's the last thing I heard before I fell asleep.

"Love, we're home." Edward said rubbing my thigh, coaxing me lightly into consciousness. I had this dream that Edward and I were engaged only to look down at my finger and realize it wasn't just a dream. I smiled up at Edward, who was still rubbing my leg.

"Love, some of my family's inside and they're dying to meet the infamous Bella." He said, moving around to open my door. It suddenly hit me that I had never met his family. He's never met Charlie either. I hadn't spoken to my dad in a few years, only for the whole child support law thing, other than that we didn't get along. He let my mother abuse me and for that I couldn't forgive him. I was still waking up when we entered the house.

As soon as we walked in confetti was thrown everywhere and 'congratulations' were yelled throughout the house. Turns out since Alice had known about the proposal she had bought stuff to throw an engagement party too, but hid it just incase I said no.

"I'm so happy for you two. And Edward, I couldn't be more proud." Esme said pulling us both into big hugs. Edward got pulled one way and I got pulled another. I was pulled over to see my friends and Edward was making rounds amongst his family, every so often I would be pulled over however.

He was right, his family was dying to meet me. I loved his crazy family, some of them more than others but they were all very nice to me. One cousin in particular took to me a little too fast and Edward quickly swooped me away and into a very passionate kiss as to warn his cousin to back off.

"I'd like to make a toast…" Emmett began, standing up on the stairs, even though he was the tallest one in the room anyways. "To Edward and Bellzo. Now my clumsy little sister will always have a doctor on hand. Maybe there is such thing as a happily ever after." I walked over and hugged Emmett, yet he kept talking. "Oh and big E, I'll be in charge of the bachelor party so be stoked!" He finished with a whoop and everyone in the wrong laughed. I smacked Emmett's arm and made my way back to Edward.

The rest of the night was uneventful and soon enough I found Edward and myself saying goodbye to his million of relatives. They congratulated both of us, wishing us well in our new lives together. We thanked them and finally made our way back into the house.

"Bella, go to sleep, we're going to look at dresses in the morning." Alice said shooing Edward and me up the stairs of his parents mansion. I laughed and began to get excited. This was actually happening, I was going to marry Edward Cullen.

While Edward was in the bathroom I walked into Mackie's room and bent down to kiss her forehead goodnight. She was already in a deep sleep and only stirred a little bit. I walked back to find Edward already under the covers. I pulled on some of his old sweats, too tired to care about changing in the bathroom.

"I love you." I whispered as I snuggled into his chest.

"I love you too. Forever." Edward said.

I woke up the next morning before Edward, thanks to Alice and Rose busting through the door and grabbing me. I left Edward a note telling him that I was dress shopping with Rose and Alice all day and that I would have my phone if he needed me.

"Lets go." Alice said as soon as I appeared downstairs.

"Alice, I'm still in Edward's clothes." I complained, looking down finding Edward's high school football sweatshirt and his shorts still hanging on my body.

"It's fine, we have no time to waste today." She said pushing me out the door, Rose carrying a box of donuts following close behind. When we were securely in the car with the doors locked Alice started pressing me for details about what I wants.

"I want a summer wedding. We decided on that last night. I want it to be on a beach, and for it to be in the middle of the day. I want to be in a simple, yet elegant white dress with a flower in my hair and him to be in khaki shorts and a white button up shirt. I want Edward and the grooms men to wear leis and I want my bridesmaid, so you guys, to wear flowers in your hair as well. Oh and no shoes, it's a beach for god's sake." I said, letting the vision unfold in my head.

"Perfect, lets go. However the no shoes thing is kind of weird but whatever." Alice said pulling me towards the first store. Rose had been silent for most of the ride, eating her donuts happily in the backseat.

Alice and Rose looked around the store, picking up dress after dress, while I got measured and sized by the seamstress. When Alice and Rose came back with their arms full of dresses I sighed and my seamstress, Linda, laughed.

They had me try on some of the most insane dresses they could find. I was trying on things from the short skimpy dress with a lace covering that went to the floor to the biggest princess style dress you could imagine. We looked for about five hours in that one store. Eventually I went around and looked myself. That's when I saw it. It was perfect.

The dress was a typical sweetheart top with a full skirt to the floor. It was pure white, no beading or anything, just white. The skirt of the dress bunched up in places giving the dress a vintage feel. I loved it. I brought it back and must have been beaming when Alice saw me.

"Try it on!" Rose urged. I did as I was told. I let the delicate fabric fall effortlessly off my body, giving me the curves I never had. I looked in the mirror and stood there in awe, completely unaware who the beautiful girl staring back at me in the mirror was. My perfectly toned surfer shoulders stood out of the back of the dress. I tucked my hair behind one of my shoulders, imagining what it would look like on my wedding day.

"This is it." I whispered. Alice and Rose both shrieked and Linda went to work. She spent the next hour asking me stories of how Edward and I met and what our plans were. She poked and prodded at me, pinning the dress securely to my body. My necklace Edward gave me was still clasped to my neck standing out perfectly with the solid white of my dress.

Rose excused herself to go to the bathroom again, the third time in the past hour. We explained to Linda that she was carrying the twins and was going to the bathroom more than 20 times a day. When Rose returned she was carrying a blue hibiscus flower in her hand.

"Hold still, Bell." Rose said while she continued approaching me with the flower. "I stole it from the garden outside the store." She said smiling sheepishly at Linda. Rose took my hair and fluffed it up a little before pulling it into a messy side ponytail. My brown locks fell around my shoulder, hitting just before my left breast. She tucked the flower above my ear and squeezed my shoulder.

"Perfect." We heard Alice murmur from the side. And it truly was. There I stood with my perfect gown, perfect hair, and perfect ring. This was going to be perfect.

We quickly decided on turquoise dresses for Alice and Rose, my two bridesmaids. Alice was my maid of honor, yet was wearing the same dress as Rose. Well almost the same dress, Rose's was going to have to be taken out a good amount in the belly, by the time August rolled around, Rose was going to be the size of a blimp she said.

"Let's grab some lunch. I'm starving." Rose complained. Alice and I both laughed.

"You're starting to sound like Em." I said in between giggles. We walked to a small restaurant at the edge of town. Rose nudged Alice and Alice let out a long sigh.

"Does this girl ever quit?" Alice asked under her breath. I looked around to see who they were talking about when I spotted Tanya. This would be my luck. She was waitressing and luckily hadn't noticed us yet.

"We can leave if you want, Bella." Rose said, turning to the door.

"No. We're going to have our fun with this." I said, folding my arms across my chest so that my left hand laid upon my right arm, ring gleaming.

"Welcome to Italy's Little Kitchen. Please follow me." The hostess said leading us towards a small booth in the back. "Your server, Tanya will be here any minute to get your order."

"Thanks." Alice said with a mischievous grin on her face. Tanya soon came over and we heard her sudden intake of breath when she saw Alice, Rose and myself.

"Bella, let me see your ring again." Rose said reaching across the table for my hand. "Oh god, it just keeps getting prettier and prettier every time I see it. You are so lucky to have a guy like Edward." Rose praised, smirking.

"Guys! Stop ogling my ring!" I fake complained.

"You love it, Bella." Alice added.

"I know I do." I said, giggling. Suddenly we heard a very apparent and annoyed 'ahem' come from behind us. We looked up to see Tanya fuming.

"Can I just take your order?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Sure, we'll all have the gnocci and pesto sauce. And can you put it in fast, we have to get back to shopping for my wedding." I said, looking her dead in the eyes. I could see her eyes fill with hate and just smiled at her. "Anything wrong?" I asked innocently.

"Yeah, you stole my boyfriend and tricked him in to marrying you, you whore." She nearly screamed. Everyone stopped what they were doing in the restaurant and looked over at our table.

"I think what you meant to say was, I wasn't dumb enough to cheat on the most wonderful man in the entire world with his roommate and then try to seduce him on the beach while his girlfriend was in the water." I said confidently.

"Dumb slut." Tanya said, throwing water in my face.

"What the fuck is your problem, bitch?" Rose now stood up getting defensive of me. Alice convinced her to sit down, the last thing we needed was for the babies to get hurt.

"I swear to god." Tanya just kept going, this time she wound her arm back and was about to launch it forward when an arm grabbed her from behind.

"I don't think so." I heard a familiar voice shout from behind her. "You're under arrest."

"Dad?" I asked, (AN: I was gonna cut you guys off here but I changed my mind and kept going) watching Charlie cuff Tanya and lead her away to another police man. I watched in shock as my own father, the man who I hadn't seen in years just rescued me from being hit.

"Hey, Bells." My dad said, acting as if we had seen each other every day for the past 4 years.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I asked, a little uncomfortable by his sudden reappearance in my life.

"I cleaned up my act, Bella. I'm the police chief here in LA." He said proudly.

"That's nice." I said curtly, suddenly remembering how bad he had hurt me.

"Bella, listen can we talk?" He asked me. I was seriously thinking about saying no, when Rose and Alice pushed me out of the booth saying that they would bring me my food to go when they were done. I nodded and walked out of Italy's Little Kitchen.

"Why?" I asked my dad softly. "Why did you let her hit me like that?" I asked with a little more confidence as we sat down on a bench.

"Bella, I was so stupid. I should have protected you, you were my baby girl. I should have stopped her." Charlie said.

"You couldn't have thought of that before she gave me this?" I nearly screamed as I turned my face to show him the scar that had formed on my jaw.

"B-Bella. What happened?" He asked, reaching out to touch the scar.

"Don't." I said pulling away from his large, husky hand. "This was the last time she hit me, before she died. This is the last memory I have of my mother. And all you can say is that you were dumb? That's all you can say? You let her hit me for god's sake for years!" I had tears running down my cheek at this time.

"I'm sorry, Bella. We were young, we didn't know what we were doing. I wish I could just take it all back. Take away what she did to you. Be the man I am now. After Renee died and you left for college, I went into the police force and trained to stop people like her. I was always so afraid to see the disappointment in your face, that's why I haven't visited or called. I've been afraid." He said, now he had tears running down his face too. Suddenly I felt my phone go off.

To: Bella

From: Edward

Alice told me what happened. Text me if you need me to come get you. Remember I love you, I cant wait to marry you.

I smiled to myself and Charlie noticed. "Boyfriend?" He asked.

"Fiancé." I said, holding up my left hand, letting Charlie see the ring. He took my hand in his and I flinched but let him hold on to my hand.

"Does he treat you right? Better than I did?" He asked softly, almost a whisper.

"Yeah. He treats me great." I said, a fresh batch of tears falling down my cheek. Charlie reached up this time to wipe them away.

"I need my dad though." I said, letting go of all my hatred for Charlie, realizing this was all too short. Charlie wrapped his arms around me and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I'm here for you, Bells. Always will be. I wasted too much time being afraid. My little girl grew up without me. Its not supposed to be that way." He said rubbing my back. I cried some more before I pulled back to look at my dad.

"So tell me about this guy." Charlie said getting up off the bench, holding out his arm for me. I linked my arm through his and started walking with him.

"His name is Edward Cullen. He just graduated med school two days ago. That's when he proposed. It was in the middle of his valedictorian speech. Turns out he lived right around the corner from Alice, Rose and me this whole time. I started out babysitting for his little sister, that's how we met. We broke up for a little bit, then Alice got cancer and I never saw him. We got back together about 9 months ago and here we are, engaged." I said.

"I heard about Alice. Her parents told me." Charlie said. "How's she doing?" He asked.

"Much better. Back to her old crazy self. Oh shot that reminds me, I need to text her." I said, pulling out my phone.

To: Alice

From: Bella

Hey – with my dad, everythings fine. I'll explain later. we're gonna get my dress. I'll meet you back home.

To: Bella

From: Alice

Text if you need anything. Oh and text E he's going crazy.

To: Edward

From: Bella

Hey, everythings fine with my dad. we talked it all out. we're going to pick up my dress now. I love you.

To: Bella

From: Edward

Esme says invite him over for dinner tonight.

To: Edward

From: Bella

Ok.

"What was that about?" Charlie asked.

"Just talking to Alice and then Edward. He says that you're welcome to come to dinner tonight at his parents house so that you can meet everyone." I said relinking my arms to his.

"I'd love to. I'm not letting you marry just anyone." Charlie said laughing. I missed him more than I remembered.

"Hey dad, one more thing. Can we go pick up my wedding dress? It should be done by now." I said tugging on his arm towards the bridal store.

"Sure thing, Bells." He said as we walked in there. He asked me how everyone was, especially Emmett who was always his favorite out of my friends. I caught him up on everything that had happened since graduation and everything with Tanya. The receipt came out with the dress and I reached for it.

"Nope, I'm paying, Bells. Its tradition." Charlie said, placing his hand over mine and grabbing the receipt.

"You don't have to do that, Dad." I said.

"Yes, I do." He said and that was that. By the time we got home it was almost time for dinner. We just drove straight over to the Cullen's in the cruiser. When we got out, Edward was waiting there on the front steps.

"Hello, love." He said getting up and taking me in his arms.

"Hey, Edward. I want you to meet my dad. Dad this is Edward." I said motioning between the two.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Swan." Edward said sticking his hand out. "I apologize for not asking for Bella's hand, she just never mentioned you."

"Don't worry about it, son. Call me Charlie." Charlie said grasping Edward's hand and shaking it. The rest of dinner went on normally. Carlisle, Esme and Charlie all talked while Edward and I sat at the end of the table laughing at each other. Eventually Charlie excuse himself and promised he would call me tomorrow. He wanted to go to lunch with Alice and Emmett and catch up with them sometime soon.

As soon as Charlie was gone Edward and I excused ourselves and retreated back to Edward's house where everyone was meeting. I filled them in on everything that had happened. Emmett was first enraged that Charlie would just come traipsing back into my life but then calmed down a little but and promised to talk to him.

"Let's watch a movie." Jasper suggested. We all agreed and took our usual spots. Alice and Jasper shared the arm chair, Emmett and Rose sprawled out on the bed of pillows they would make on the floor and Edward and I would nest ourselves into the couch.

"Can we please watch Miracle tonight?" Emmett begged, having been shot down last time.

"Yeah, I guess." I said agreeing to sitting through a hockey movie.

"That was nice of you, love." Edward whispered into my ear as we settled down into his blankets and pillows.

"Bell and Alice can I talk to you guys really quickly before we start the movie?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, I want to talk to big E and Jasper too." Emmett said. We followed Rose into the kitchen while I grabbed some food out of the fridge I had recently stocked for him.

"What's up, Rose?" I asked grabbing popcorn from the cabinet.

"I want you to be Emmett's godmother. And Alice I want you to be Anabelle's godmother. It would mean a lot to me." Rose said looking between us.

"UHM OBVIOUSLY!" Alice said jumping up to hug Rose. "I can't wait to spoil her."

"What do you say, Bella? Wanna turn my son into a surf rat?" Rose asked lightly laughing.

"Wouldn't want anyone else to taint him besides me." I said hugging Rose. I couldn't wait. I loved little kids. I wanted four of them. I wonder if Edward wanted kids. We walked into the family room and I rejoined Edward on the couch.

"I'm gonna be Emmett's godfather." Edward said proudly.

"I'm gonna be his godmother. Betcha he likes me better." I said smugly, snuggling into his arms.

There we laid blissfully, letting the amount of love in the room engulf us. When the movie ended Edward and I moved to his bedroom, after I showed Jasper and Alice where the spare bedroom was and then lead Rose and Emmett to the other spare bedroom was. Why Edward had all this empty space I would never know.

"Ready for bed love?" Edward said pulling the sheets back.

"Edward, do you want kids?" I just blurted out. Wow, that was subtle.

"I love kids, but if you don't want any, that's fine with me." He said looking down at the ground. I lifted his chin up and stood on my tip toes.

"I want a big family. Especially if they're all with you." I said stretching up to meet his lips. We collapsed onto the bed, kissing passionately. After some more activity I fell asleep in his arms, dreaming of our little surfer children with bronze hair.

AN- next chapter wedding!! so review away little readers if you want to know about the magical wedding. when i described her wedding that was actually mine haha oh well. im still looking for your favorite part and our final name selection for the babes. anywayssssss love ya. im off to San Diego to make the final stuff for my wedding dress and set up the location with ky.

peace out little readers

(i'll be checking the reviews while i'm away...)

n


	20. My Stunning Bride

Edward POV

The months had flown by since my graduation. Bella and I were engaged and I couldn't be any more thrilled to be spending the rest of my life with her. I had taken the job at the hospital in Laguna and was commuting from Manhattan Beach until after the wedding. Everything was happening so quickly. Mackie was starting 7th grade soon and Bella had found a little job where she could teach people how to surf. Alice's cancer hadn't come back and Rose was, as promised, as big as a blimp.

"Bella, come on, time to go before Edward wakes up." I heard Alice say, trying to tear Bella away from my grip. Little did Alice know I had been up already thinking about the bachelor/bachelorette parties that Alice and Emmett had planned for us today.

"God he's got like the death grip on her." I heard Rose say, I now felt two arms pulling at my Bella.

"Five more minutes." Bella mumbled against my bare chest. I had to bite my tongue from laughing. I tightened my grip around her and waited for what was to come next.

"Don't make me do it, Bella." Alice threatened. I almost lost it at that point and started laughing. I heard Alice sigh and I let out a chuckle.

"Edward!" Rose yelled, startled by my eyes flying open.

"Way to scare a pregnant woman, Edward." Alice scolded me. Bella was stirring in my arms and finally opened her beautiful brown eyes.

"Good morning, love." I said softly, kissing her on the lips. Suddenly it must have dawned on Bella that we were still, well uhm, indecent from last nights activities and pulled the sheets up higher.

"Guys! We're not dressed! Get out! I'll meet you outside in a minute!" Bella said, still pressed firmly against my chest. I felt her cheeks get hot and knew that they must be a lovely shade of burgundy right about now.

Alice and Rose left giggling to themselves, threatening Bella that if she wasn't outside in three minutes they were coming in, dressed or not.

"That is so embarrassing." Bella said, now peeking out from behind her curtain of sheets.

"Love, there is nothing to be embarrassed by. Anyways we need to get up, unless you want to share my naked glory with Alice and Rose." I said, I crack myself up sometimes. I reached over Bella and grabbed my boxers off the floor and pulled them on. In no time Bella and I were both fully clothed and on our way out the door.

"Have fun today." I said turning to pull Bella into my arms.

"You too, Mr. Cullen. I love you." Bella said planting little kisses along my neck finally pausing before kissing my lips.

"Mm tomorrow I can finally call you Mrs. Cullen. I love you too, Bella." I said thinking about how great it will finally be to say the Bella is mine. I watched as Bella was dragged off by Alice and Rose towards Rosalie's BMW. Just then my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Big E! Get ready buddy boy, Jasper and I are on my way now. Bring a bathing suit!" Emmett exclaimed. I could have moved the phone away from my ear and still been able to hear him.

"Do I even want to know?" I asked.

"Just be ready." Emmett said before hanging up the phone. I went back into my room and grabbed my bathing suit throwing it on. I pulled out a sweatshirt from the closet and tugged it on. The overwhelming smell of freesias and strawberries hit my nose. I missed my Bella.

This was going to be a long day. I wondered what Bella was doing right about now. I knew that Rose and Alice were taking her to a spa all day but tonight, I had no idea what they had planned for her.

Me? Well I wasn't so worried about myself, I could take whatever Emmett threw at me. I hoped. I heard his giant jeep roll up before I actually saw it. When I did see it, it was only for a mere second before Jasper jumped out and blindfolded me.

"How ya doing, Eddie?" Emmett asked me.

"That depends where are you two taking me?" I asked, slightly irritated.

"Around. Come on juts enjoy it, its your last day as a single man in California. We're doing what everyone does at least once a month." Jasper said, I knew immediately what we were doing. We were gonna play knock of the tourists.

"First we're going else where." Emmett said, probably realizing that I figured it out. I felt the car stop and heard the window roll down.

"Hey bro, which exit do I take to get to the water park?" Emmett asked.

"DUDE!" Jasper yelled, I heard a thud and realized Jasper must have hit Emmett.

"SCORE! Are we really going to a water park?" I asked looking around, even though I couldn't see anything still.

"Yeah, I guess you can take that blindfold off too since dingbat over here ruin the surprise." Jasper said, I could tell he felt defeated. I ripped off the blindfold and threw it next to me.

We spent the next four hours at the water park, that was until Emmett got told he was too big to fit on the vertical drop slide and threw a fit. The ride operator called security and they escorted us out of the park. We decided to bag the tourist thing and just went straight to a big club. The whole back was roped off and I noticed a ton of guys standing behind the rope.

"Rob?" I called out to a familiar looking big guy.

"Cullen!" He called back. I knew it then, my teammates. My old football team from high school now surrounded me.

"Em, how on earth did you find my team, man?" I asked slapping Emmett on the back.

"Alice found them." He said putting his arms up in an 'I don't know' fashion. I made my way around talking to all my old friends from high school, shocked to see how some people never change.

"Everyone, I'd like to propose a toast." Jasper called over the crowd. "To Edward, good luck my man. I've known Bella since she started college six years ago. I've known Edward for a year. Congrats, you're about to officially tie down Manhattans Beach's biggest surf betty. I hope you like the ocean." I raised my beer to Jasper and he sat down. Next up was Emmett.

"Like I said at your graduation party bro, with Bella around, you'll never need to worry about losing your job at the hospital. She'll keep you guys plenty busy. Congrats man, I know little Emmett will be lucky to have such loving godparents." Emmett sat down and everyone clapped. Suddenly he popped back up. I heard 'Let It Rock' by Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne come on the speakers.

"What type of friend would I be if I didn't get some good old fashion strippers while I was at it?" Emmett said, getting a loud holler from the crowd. Out came about 20 girls all in minimal clothes. This was going to be a long night.

Bella POV

After being horribly embarrassed this morning by my two best friends I was dragged to the spa. I sat there in a bath of mud with very excited Alice and very pregnant Rose.

"Wanna explain to me again why sitting in mud is good for me?" I asked. "Cant I just be in the ocean? It's like the same exact thing." I said running my fingers through the thick mud.

"Please just try to relax, Bella. Its good for your pores." Rose said, not opening her eyes.

"So is the salt water." I grumbled under my breath. Alice turned to me with wide eyes and looked like she was going to pop.

"I can't believe you're getting married tomorrow!" She said jumping onto, knocking some of the mud to the floor.

"Way to knock the mud out. Now my pores will never be perfect!" I said with fake horror masking my face.

"Hey!" Rose said, flicking mud at me from across the tub. I chucked mud right back at her and we started a mud war. A piece of mud hit Alice straight in the face. Rose and I immediately stopped throwing mud and started laughing.

"That's it!" Alice nearly shouted and grabbed fistfuls of mud and threw them both at Rose and me. Over the next few minutes we were all covered in mud. A man came into the room wearing a staff uniform and cleared his throat.

"It's time for your massages. There's a shower over there if you guys want to get that mud off of you, or out of your hair for that matter." He said looking us up and down.

We were doubled over in laughter as we tried to get as much mud off of us as we could. We all gave each other the side looks when the guy came back in to lead us to the massage tables.

"Yeah, I don't really see that happening." Rose said looking at the table. Alice and I just burst into laughter again.

"I'm going to get a sandwich and a foot massage." Rose said puffing out her breath. That only made Alice and me laugh that much harder. Rose stormed out of the room, trying to get her robe to fit across her humongous stomach.

Alice and I laid down on the tables next to each other so we could still talk to each other.

"Are you scarred?" She asked me quietly while we were getting our backs rubbed.

"Of what?" I asked, barely coherent enough to respond.

"All of it. The commitment, the love, the feeling that this is it for you?" Alice asked. I was shocked she was asking me this. She loved weddings.

"Not really. I was at first, the whole idea of living with one person for the rest of my life. Then I just think of Edward. Everything seems okay, as long as he's there." I said.

"What about kids? Have you guys talked about that? Cause obviously after this morning we know that you can, uh, both perform if you will." She said giggling. I felt the blush creep across my cheeks and pressed my face down into the table.

"We'll have them some day. He said I could teach them how to surf if I wanted. I mean it would be awfully lonely in that house in Laguna all by ourselves." I said.

"Well I don't want you to worry about anything! I've got everything set for tomorrow, all you have to do is get your lazy butt out of bed. You're sleeping at home tonight, whether you like it or not. We all are. And Emmett and Jasper are keeping Edward at his place." Alice told me, I felt my smile turn into a pout, but knew it was pointless.

"As long as you didn't get me strippers, I suppose I'll suck it up." I sighed heavily. It was going to be a long night.

"We almost did. But then we decided you would die of embarrassment and wouldn't want to have to explain to Edward why you weren't there tomorrow." Alice laughed and leaned back into her massage. I did the same and tried to relax.

I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew Rose and Alice were shaking me awake and pulling at my arms.

"Lets go, Bell. No one sleeps through their own bachelorette party!" Rose yelled, jumping with excitement.

"Fineeeee." I whined. I was pulled up and out of the spa to find a limo waiting for us outside.

"Seriously guys?" I asked, this was a little over the top. "Save the limos for tomorrow."

"Not happening, get in! We're going to Beverly Hills!" Alice cheered. I had to admit I was pretty excited. I didn't really like the people in Beverly Hills but they had some of the craziest night life's around.

"You can get changed in the car." Rose said handing me a duffel bag. I obeyed and climbed into the car. I pulled on the mini dress and knit uggs. Rose pulled my hair up into a messy pony tail and we were set.

We spent the rest of the night with cosmos in our hands, walking up and down the famous Rodeo Drive. We got some of the funniest stares in the world. Alice and I were getting pretty drunk at this point and Rose was trying to conceal our embarrassing acts. She wasn't drinking obviously due to the babes so that made her designated driver automatically. This meant that Alice and I could let go.

"Hey there, hot stuff. It's my friends last night as a single woman in this fabulous state, care to give her a dance?" Alice slurred walking up to a man dressed as Beevis from Beevis and Butthead. And well, he did give me a dance. It was one of the funniest moments I had ever witnessed. I heard a camera click and turned to see Rose, tears rolling down her face and she watched Beevis try to dance with me.

I was making a fool of myself trying to dance away from him, of course being drunk I stumbled a ton of times into the tourists waiting for their stars home tours or whatnot.

"Alright, I don't think we want Edward getting jealous of Beevis over here. Lets get you home Bella. You have a big day tomorrow." Rose said, taking one of my arms in hers and Alice in her other. We walked to the car while Alice and I sang our hearts out to our favorite 80's songs.

"And in my heart you will remain forever young!" We called out as the last line of Forever Young came out of our mouths. We burst into laughter, even Rose was laughing at this point.

Suddenly we were at home and I didn't even realize where the time had gone. I didn't remember getting into the car. I was too blissfully drunk to care though.

"Okay, you two, go to bed now! If you two have hang overs tomorrow morning I swear to god its gonna get ugly." She said and pointed towards my bedroom.

My bedroom was transformed to the ultimate sleep over room. There were mattresses all over the floor covered in blankets and pillows. Alice and I both stumbled in and crashed on the first soft thing we felt.

I woke up the next morning a little groggy. I had a little hang over, nothing advil and one of Rose's smoothies couldn't fix. I suddenly remembered, it was my wedding day. I jumped out of bed and walked into the kitchen. Rose was standing there already making my smoothie and Alice was on the phone frantically pacing the living room talking about flowers.

"Morning, Bell!" Rose said, cheerfully. She handed me a smoothie and I sat down on the counter top.

"Thanks." I mumbled, popping two advil into my mouth and taking a big gulp of smoothie.

"How long have you guys been up?" I asked looking around at the room.

"Since about 6. Its 8 now, Alice wanted to make sure everything was perfect before you got up." Rose said, nodding her head towards Alice. She chuckled and then turned back to me.

"How bout you take that smoothie, hop in the bath and soak for a little bit. Then you can come out and we'll do everything from there." Rose suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. I might wanna take a bath before Alice sees me and the shrieking starts." I said laughing, Rose laughed along with me. I snuck into the bathroom without being noticed and drew the bath water.

After about 20 minutes of relaxing in the tub I knew it was time to get out. I washed all the bubbles out of my hair. Once I was positive my hair was clean I got out of the tub and wrapped my big white bathrobe around my body. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed, this was it. I pulled on one of Edward's old button down shirts and walked out.

"Finally! Lets go! We have so much work to do." Alice said as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom. I was pulled into the usual Bella Barbie chair and handed a plate with two eggos on them.

"Thought you might like some breakfast." Rose said before grabbing the blow drier and curlers. My hair was pulled up into curlers faster than I thought was possible.

"Okay, now I'm going to do Alice and my hair, I want you to go watch TV or something. When we're done, we'll come in do your makeup, and then get you in that dress." Rose said, she was just about to walk away when a question popped into my head.

"What about Charlie?" I asked, almost as if he knew he was being talked about the doorbell rang.

"Maybe you should go answer it. If its Edward slam the door." Rose said, laughing while she walked into Alice's room. I went to the door and opened it slightly. In front of me stood Charlie, but not the Charlie I knew. This Charlie was wearing a suit and had his hands fiddling around with a bow tie.

"Hey dad!" I said wrapping my arms around him, he let his hands fall and hug me back.

"How's my little girl feeling?" He asked as we walked into the kitchen. I was starving.

"I'm hungry but other than that I feel great. I'm really excited to spend forever with Edward." I said, grabbing an apple out of the fridge and sitting up on the counter.

"I'm glad he makes you happy, Bells." Charlie said grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge as well. He took a sip and then went back to trying to get the bow tie tied.

"Need help?" I asked, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. He let his hands flop down to his sides and I moved to grab the two pieces.

"This was Alice's idea, not mine." He sighed. I laughed knowing just how forceful Alice could be if she wanted to. I got the tie fixed around his neck and he hugged me again.

"My little girl is all grown up." Charlie said as I rested my head against his chest, being sure not to mess up my hair. He let go of me and went to sit and watch TV. I laughed at how normal this all felt.

"Bell, come here we're gonna do your makeup now!" Alice called from her bedroom. "Hey Charlie!"

"Hello Alice!" My dad shouted from the couch. I hopped off the counter and walked into Alice's room.

"Bella Barbie time?" I asked, already knowing my answer.

"You know it. This time it's actually important though, everything else was practice for today. Now sit still." Alice commanded. I looked around for Rose who I saw sitting on the edge of the bed. She was in her dress already and looked stunning.

"The babes are so heavy." She said and let herself fall backwards onto the bed. The turquoise dress hung off of her shoulders, concealing a decent amount of her belly. Her hair was as I wanted it to be, up in a messy ponytail. We decided I would be the only one with a flower in my hair. Alice was also in her dress, which was significantly smaller than Rose's but still as gorgeous. There wasn't much to do with Alice's short croppy hair so we left it alone.

My make up was done within twenty minutes. Alice had turned me around so that I couldn't see what she was doing anymore.

"Promise me its natural looking, Al. I don't want to look like a clown on my wedding day." I begged, starting to grow worried that there was too much makeup.

"There's barely any. We would have been done 10 minutes ago if you would stop moving around." She said, you could tell she was stressed out.

"Let's get her into the dress." Rose said, pulling herself up off the bed. She waddled into the bathroom and got the big white dress bag hanging on the door. Rose pulled out my dress and I gasped. I had forgotten how much I loved that dress.

"Here hold on to my arm and step in one foot at a time." Alice said grabbing me, trying to support me. I got into the dress without any mishaps and it still fit like a glove.

Rose took the curlers out of my hair and tied it to the side in my long ponytail. I was about to look in the mirror when she grabbed my arm and said no.

"One last thing." Rose grabbed a turquoise hibiscus off the night stand and put it behind my ear. "Perfect." Rose said, tears brimming her eyes.

I turned to look at myself in the mirror and as stunned. There stood this woman, her brown hair flowing effortlessly down her left shoulder with a flower behind her ear. The dress that clung to her body looked as if it were made specifically for her, layering in all the right places. I saved looking at her face for last, knowing that would probably make me tear up.

Alice was right, there was barely any make up on the girls face. This couldn't be me. The girl in the mirror looked like someone graceful and elegant, not some surfer girl from a broken home. I did as I thought I would and teared up.

"Thank you guys." I whispered, that was all the voice I could muster up.

"You're welcome, Bell." Rose said hugging my side. Alice did the same.

"Lets get you to your wedding!" Alice said, enthusiasm laced with her voice. "Charlie! We're ready!" She called through the door. I heard some shuffling on the other side and imagined Charlie being woken up by Alice's yell and looking for the remote.

"Bells, you look beautiful." Charlie said when I appeared in the doorway. He offered me his arm and I gladly took it.

The limo ride was short, thankfully. Had it been any longer I think I might have died of nerves. I saw the police lined up outside the beach, closing off a private section for the wedding today. Charlie had pulled some strings at work and got the whole department to secure my wedding.

"We're going to go, you wait her with Charlie for my cue, okay Bella? You're going to do wonderfully." Alice said and squeezed my hand as she climbed out of the limo.

"Good luck, Bell. This is your day, enjoy it." Rose said, getting out after Alice. That left me sitting in the limo, watching people walk into my wedding. I kept my eyes out for Edward but I guessed he was already waiting down there for me.

"Only five more minutes, Bells. Relax." Charlie said rubbing my back. He could tell I was nervous. Soon enough Alice came and gave us the signal and Charlie got out of the car.

"It's not too late to decide this isn't what you want, Bells." Charlie said, giving me his hand to help me out of the car.

"It's now or never Dad. I love Edward. This is what I want." I said, finally pulling my train out of the limo.

"Here we go then." Charlie said, leading me towards where Alice and Rose were. They were standing with Emmett and Jasper, Edwards groomsmen.

Alice shot me a look before basically dancing down the isle, attached to Jaspers arm. Emmett gave me a thumbs up and took Rose down the isle and went to wait by Jasper. It was my turn. The wedding march started and everyone stood up.

This was the first good look I got at the whole scene. The beach was transformed to paradise with flowers everywhere. I scanned the crowd and saw a ton of Hawaiian shirts and casual sundresses fill the seats. The seats were white and wooden, just as I had pictured them. I looked down the isle and saw an arbor with white and turquoise flowers hanging from it, but what I saw under it was what took my breath away.

Edward was standing there, grinning from ear to ear. His bronze hair was blowing around in wind. He had on khaki shorts and a white button up shirt. A lai hung from his neck, just like at graduation. Edward's green eyes were glowing, I could tell from here.

Soon enough we were down the aisle and Charlie placed my hand in Edwards. The whole wedding flew by, the I do's, the rings, the kiss, everything. The whole feeling was so surreal. My hand clasps around Edward's as we walked down the aisle, man and wife. There were cheers everywhere and I turned to look at my friends and family. Esme was wiping away tears from her eyes, while Charlie and Carlisle shook hands.

Edward pulled me into the limo, helping me get all my dress in successfully. He pulled me onto his lap and immediately our lips found each other.

"I love you Mrs. Cullen." Edward said against my lips.

"I love you too, Mr. Cullen." I mumbled, still kissing him. I took a break for air and he just continued kissing my jaw line, carefully tracing my scar, down to my collar bone where he playfully bit me. I giggled and he moved back up to my mouth,

We stayed like that until we got all the way to the reception hall. The window rolled down while we were still making out in the back of the car.

"You two! Drive around the block once more and clean yourselves up. Edward, wipe the lipstick off your face and Bella, take your hair down, no one will be able to tell its been messed up." Alice said. I hid my face in Edwards neck to hide my embarrassment.

So around the block we went again, much like the last time, we were making out until the very last second. We "freshened" ourselves up and stepped out of the limo. Everyone was inside already, we just had to walk in.

"Ready Mrs. Cullen?" Edward asked, a smug smile playing across his face.

"Are you ever going to call me Bella again?" I asked playfully smacking his arm. He pulled me into his arms and placed his lai around my neck.

"Maybe, maybe not. I always told you my last name looks good on you." He said before kissing my forehead again.

"Oh come on." I whined as he grabbed my hand and dragged moff towards the reception hall. He only chuckled in response.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, its my pleasure to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Anthony Cullen!" We heard some random guy call over the microphone and took that as our cue. We walked in and the applause was insane. I looked over and saw a group of guys, who looked to be about our age, who I realized I had never seen before.

"Edward, who are they?" I asked quietly, still smiling at everyone.

"Them? My old high school football team. Emmett must have invited them to the reception, they were at the party last night." Edward said casually. He led me over to our seat, front and center in the room.

We did everything traditionally. The first dance, the father-daughter dance, the throwing of my flowers, and the tossing of the garter. Everything seemed right out of a movie, down to the decorations and Price Charming seating next to me. The speeches were the last thing that night before Edward whisked me away to our mystery location.

"I'm going to make an amazing speech, so if you could all sit down now." Alice said, standing up.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. I look at you today and I think of how proud I am of you. Which is weird because you would only imagine people who are old being proud of their young, but I am truly proud of you. I remember when we were little and you only cared about surfing and getting out of the house, which lead to us having some pretty crazy nights. I bet we couldn't remember half of them even if we tried. I look at you now, grown up, in love. You've overcome so much, Bella. You overcame your abusive mother, who if were still alive, I think even she would be proud of you. You helped me get through cancer, which isn't an easy battle for anyone. For that I am not only grateful but I admire you, Bella. You are such a strong, independent woman. I've watched as you've matured into this beautiful woman and couldn't be any more happy for you and Edward.

Edward, I may have only known you for a few years now, but I feel like you've been part of the family forever. It's been hard sharing Bella with you, and I know that now you obviously have first dibs on her, but promise me that I'll be on the top of the list of people you call when she's pregnant. You're someone I can feel safe around, you're turning into my brother. You've got a way of making people feel like their right at home, so I've just got one favor to ask of you. Treat my Bella right, and we'll continue to stay on good terms. I love you both, you are my family." By the time Alice finished her speech I already had tears rolling down my cheek. Edward took his hand out of mine and wiped away a tear, then slowly kissed my cheek.

"Well that's gonna be a hard speech to follow, but everyone knows I'm funnier, so dry those eyes and listen up." Emmett began. "Big E, I know we had our differences at times when you were lusting after Bella but she was too busy being stubborn to realize it. You're always around to catch Bella when she falls over her own two feet, which probably will save you tons of insurance money one day. We've had some good times over the past few months, getting to know each other better, you painting my kids' rooms while I eat, and dealing with hundreds of shopping bags. The one thing I can say bro, is that I'm glad Bella found you, I don't think I would have let her marry anyone else.

Bellzo, what to say about you. I could start with there's never a dull moment when you're around. You're always slipping and falling on everything in sight and it always made for a good laugh through junior high. I remember when you were the nerdy little kid in the back of the class, getting all the right answers but too shy to open your mouth. Then you went to surf camp and came back acting as if you were better than me and I hated you for that. I just never told you. However, you've turned out to be a pretty great woman. I can't wait til you start popping out some little surf rat children of your own." Emmett sat down and I playfully reached across Edward to smack his arm.

Rose and Jasper stood up together next, Jasper held a big box in his arms and Rose held the mic.

"Bella and Edward, this is for you guys from all of us. We've watched you two fall in love, fight, and fall back into love. The neighborhoods going to seem so empty without the two of you. It's going to miss Bella's 5 in the morning surfers which usually end with her kicking and screaming on the beach, yelling about whatever dumb thing Edward's done this time. And Edward we're all going to miss you're up for anything attitude. You were always the tie breaker when we couldn't figure out what to do and now we'll probably sit around staring at each other. Congratulations you guys, we love you two." Rose said, while Jasper moved to place the box in front of Edward and me.

On the count of three we opened the box. Inside the large box was my street sign, with Edward's street sign below it in the opposite direction. I felt the tears well up in my eyes looking at it and all it meant to me. My old home. Hanging off the signs was a wooden sign that said

Home isn't where you are, it's who you're with

I looked up at Rose and noticed the tears in her eyes as well.

"Thank you." I said quietly. They all smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

"We, uhm, we did have to 'borrow' those so, I suggest not bringing that around the old house." Emmett said, looking at his feet. We all laughed.

The rest of the night carried out as normal, we said our goodbyes in a timely fashion. We apparently had a very prompt flight to catch.

"Bella, all your bags are packed and in the car." Alice told me as I went to hug her goodbye.

"Alice, you really didn't have to pack my bag for me." I said, almost worried of what I would find in the suitcase.

"Oh yes I did." She said, handing me off to Jasper. I gave him a quick hug and thanked him for everything. I turned to Rosalie next.

"You keep my godson healthy while I'm gone, got it?" I said to her, hugging her around the babe bump.

"I'll try. We'll miss you Bell." She said giving me one last squeeze before it was Emmett's turn.

"Well, see ya later Bellzo." He said, walking away. I was about to throw a fit when he turned around and picked me up in typical Emmett fashion.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He said in my ear. I smacked his arm and was suddenly dropped to the floor, only to be caught by Edward's strong arms.

"Ready, love?" He asked smoothly.

"Yup. Bye everyone!" I said one last time before heading out to the car. I had changed into my favorite pair of Edward's sweatpants and a tank top. I was ready for anything.

"Any chance in you telling me where we're going now?" I asked, trying to get it out of him. With one hand still on the steering wheel, he took my hand in his right one.

"Not a chance, love. I can tell you though, we are making a pit stop." He said. We were driving fast towards the airport now and should be there in about three minutes if he kept up that driving.

"Let's go love, you can sleep on the plane." He said, handing the baggage claim guy a twenty and pulling me towards security. He handed me my ticket for security and I took that chance to look and see where our destination was. Chicago.

"Chicago? Edward what's in Chicago?" I asked, puzzled.

"Our pit stop. I want to show you where I went to school, where I played football. I want you to be a part of these things. We're only staying there for about two hours though." He said, still concealing part of the surprise.

"Will I figure out where we go after that sometime soon?" I asked.

"Fine. We're going to Australia after, and yes your surfboard is already on its way there." Edward said. I couldn't wait. 11 days on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, I couldn't wait. We were now past security and walking towards our gate. I was tired from everything and slumped down in a chair at the gate. I felt Edward's strong arms wrap around me and pull me into his lap.

"I love you, Mrs. Cullen." Edward said, letting his lips gently touch my hair.

"I love you too, Mr. Cullen." I said before drifting off into an easy sleep.

I woke up when we were already seated on the plane, my head resting upon Edward's shoulder. Edward was looking out the window when I opened my eyes.

"Hey you." I said quietly.

"Hey, love. You're up!" He said leaning down to kiss me. "What do you think about dogs?" Edward asked looking down.

"I love dogs, why?" I asked, this was so out of the blue. I had always wanted a dog, My mother hated them though.

"What do you say about getting one when we get home?" Edward asked. His eyes were lit up like a childs.

"Why not. Can name her Bailey?" I asked, getting excited about the idea.

"Whatever you'd like love." He mumbled, then Edward fell asleep for the rest of the flight.

"Babe, we're landing." I whispered into his ear. He made this pathetic grunting noise and buried his face in my hair. "Oh come on you big lug."

"Fine." He whined. God he acted like a two years old sometimes. But that's why I loved him.

Later we were off the plane and on the road, we had exactly two and a half hours before we had to be back at gate 30. Edward was taking me to his old high school, he wanted to show me something important to him.

"Love, we're here." He said, tugging on my hand. He got out and opened my door, holding my hand as we walked to a huge door. He pushed the door open and flicked a switch.

"It's a good thing they don't change the locks around here." He said, grinning, dangling an old rusty key off his finger.

"You're crazy." I said, as he took my hand a little tighter and pulled. I looked around to see that I was looking at one of the biggest nonprofessional football stadiums I had ever been in.

Edward had let go of my hand at this point and was walking around, pretending like he was about to run some insane play. I watched his as he "caught" the ball and looked up, passed the ball down the side and then jumped up in victory. Then suddenly the smile from his face faded and was replaced with an emotion that looked empty.

I walked towards him, letting my head tilt to the side. I could tell he knew I was confused. He opened his arms and pulled me into them.

"I sent the winning pass that night. Straight into Jeff's hands, it was perfect. Even had one of those crazy spirals on it. Everyone freaked out, well that's an understatement. They went absolutely crazy. We had fans literally jump down onto the field after that pass. We won states. Everything was perfect. I knew nothing was gonna get better than that for me. That I was gonna play college ball and I would be okay with that. That dream was soon replaced by that of being a doctor.

But then I met you, Bella. I got that same feeling that I had that day when you agreed to marry me. It was like I threw that perfect pass, I won game, everyone was going crazy. I guess what I'm trying to say is you gave me my dreams back. You made me feel like I was back on top of the world, that I could tackle anything. I plan on showing you just how thankful I am of you, for forever. You're my guardian angel, Isabella Marie Cullen." He wiped away the tears from my eyes and put a finger under my chin. "I love you, forever."

AN- soooo there ya have it. there's gonna be one more follow up chapter but after that I think I'll move on to my next story idea so keep in tune with what's going on. I love you guys. one more chapter for all you signature of the divines. oh and if you haven't listened to the songs at the beginning on all chapters you really should, its great music. reviews please I love you guys

love

n


	21. Story of a Girl

Edward POV

6 years went by pretty fast. Alice and Jasper got married not long after us. Alice's cancer came back a few years after they got married. They spent the next 14 months in the hospital, getting another round of chemo. Alice's little body fought it off again, surprising everyone. She was told she would never conceive a child, but by another miracle, they had. Lucy was born a year ago, completely healthy.

Rose and Emmett kept working on their shop, Under The Hood and were featured numerous times on TV specials and in magazines. The garage had even been used as a set for a horror movie. Emmett Jr. and Anabelle were going on 6 now. They had a little sister, Julie who was three. They wanted more kids, but needed a break and decided to wait.

Mackie was on her way to being all grown up. She was a senior in high school now, slipping slowly out of my older brother grasp. I watched as she became the beautiful young woman I knew she would become. She had found love, just as I had found Bella. Or rather Bella found me. Mackie was teaching a little boy how to surf and instantly fell in love with his older brother, Cam.

As for Bella and me, we moved into that house in Laguna. I was now head resident at Laguna Memorial Hospital. Bella had her own surf shop in town, New Moon. She taught surfing lessons on Tuesdays. We didn't waste time having a family either. Elizabeth was 4 and Bella's due in 2 months with our own set of twins. I plan on delivering them myself.

It was November 26, making tomorrow Thanksgiving. Everyone was coming to our house. Bella was too pregnant to leave, and honestly, traveling in a car with her while she was pregnant with Elizabeth was torturous. So I invited everyone to our house. Esme and Carlisle were on a tropical cruise with the Hale's and Charlie couldn't take off of work as the police Chief. It would just be us kids.

"Hello?" A small squeaky voice answered the phone when I tried to call Bella.

"Hello, Baby." I said, a smile spreading across my face.

"Daddy!" Elizabeth squealed. She definitely took after Alice in that department.

"Hello?" My angels voice said. My smile grew ten times larger.

"Hello love. How's your day?" I asked, running a hand through my messy hair.

"Well my belly knocked over the cranberry sauce but other than that it's fine. How's yours? Save any lives?" She asked. I could tell she was rubbing her stomach.

"It's been slow. I should be home in an hour. No one needs life saving today. I miss you." I said softly. "I wish I was with you."

"Mmm I wish you were here too. Everyone's getting here soon. Elizabeth is probably going to take a nap in a little bit. Right baby?" She said. I could see the look on Elizabeth's face perfectly in my head. Only because her mother makes the same face when I tell her its time to go to bed.

"I'll try and sneak out sooner, love. Hey guess what?" I said, although I'm sure she knew what was coming next.

"What?" She said, playing along.

"I love you." I said, grinning.

"I love you too, Edward." Bella said. "Come home soon." She whispered.

"Anything for you, love." I said, hanging up the phone. I went to the surgical board and checked my schedule. I had to do rounds once more before I was able to leave. I could get Derek to cover my surgery this afternoon.

Rounds went by slowly. It took me about 45 more minutes than it should have. One of my patients was on the verge of killing themselves, which just added to my irritation when they tried to hit me. I was silently humming to myself when a 911 page came over my pager. I looked down and it said nursing station.

_What the fuck. _Why did the nurses need me for a 911. Oh god. Bella or Elizabeth. That was the only time I told them to 911 page me. I took off running; actually running was an understatement. I was sprinting. I reached the nursing station in 30 seconds flat. I leaned up against the desk looking around frantically.

"Where is she?" I asked, ripping through papers like a mad man.

"Room 4. It's nothing serious. Just take a look at her." The nurse said, calming me a little but not enough.

I went off running towards her room and my heart melted when I saw Elizabeth in the hospital bed. She was crying, holding onto to Bella as an intern tried to clean her right hand.

"What happened?" I asked, pushing the intern aside, taking a seat, looking at my daughters small hand. There was a massive gash across her palm.

"We were watching TV on the couch and I must have fallen asleep because next thing I knew she was sitting on the counter screaming bloody murder with the knife I was using to chop vegetables in her hand." Bella explained, her words barely a whisper. "I'm so sorry, Edward. I should have been paying attention better."

"I just trying to help. I sorry, Daddy." Elizabeth said between sobs. I slightly chuckled at her. She was just like her mother.

"It's okay, baby. Daddy can fix this." I assured her, kissing her hand lightly before getting out the kit for sutures.

"This is going to hurt a little, baby. You can squeeze my hand though okay?" Bella said, hugging our daughter close to her body. I looked up and smiled at Bella. She was perfect.

Elizabeth winced a few times before I finished. I tried to be as gentle as I could, and as I neat as I could possibly be. I wouldn't allow myself to think of how messy this would be if that intern had done this. I finished and kissed her hand, putting a band-aid over the cut.

"Edward, what is this I hear about a 911?" My friend, Derek, asked coming into the room.

"Someone decided she could be a chef. It didn't end so well." I said, lightly nudging my daughter. She giggled as she wiped away the last of her tears.

"Uncle Derek!" She screamed once he fully entered the room.

"Elizabeth!" He answered with just as much enthusiasm. "Hello, Bella. You're looking wonderful."

"Hey Derek." Bella answered, slouching into the chair next to the hospital bed.

"Elizabeth, I know where they hide the candy around here." Derek said, holding out his hand for my daughter to take. She looked at me and then at Bella and we both nodded. Elizabeth took off with Derek to the candy closet they had for the surgeons who were up for long hours.

"How are you feeling, love?" I asked, walking over to Bella.

"I'm tired. I feel so heavy." Bella said. I went over and picked her up, bridal style.

"Not heavy at all." I said as she laid her head against my chest. I sat us back down in the chair pulling her in my lap. "I love you."

"I love you too." She whispered against my ear, lightly biting my earlobe. That got a low, throaty moan from the back of my throat.

"Mm, not here love." I said. Bella laughed her light bubbly laugh and hopped off my lap. I grabbed her hand and we went looking for Elizabeth. I took this moment to really take in how beautiful Bella looked today.

Her long, brown hair was up in a pony tail. She was wearing a brown long shirt that flowed nicely over her bump. The brown leggings underneath made her legs look slender again. She had on her Birkenstocks on and her evil eye bracelet secured around her ankle. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and whispered in her ear.

"You are truly beautiful." I whispered. She blushed a deep red and put her head down. Her 5'5" stature was perfect, even when she was the size of a small blimp.

We walked around the corner at the nursing station where I lost Bella. She started talking to the nurse Kristy, while I continued to look for Elizabeth. I finally saw her with chocolate smeared all over her face.

"What do we have here?" I asked, picking her up and throwing her over my shoulder. She started giggling and I started running around the break room.

"Daddy!" She giggled, hitting my back. "Bye Derek!" She called from my back as we ran towards Bella. "Mommy! Tell him to put me down!"

"Uhoh someone's in trouble." Bella said, shaking her head. Elizabeth shook her head pointing at me. I started shaking my head pointing back at her. Bella just laughed at us before saying goodbye to Kristy.

"Bella, you didn't drive you here did you?" I said, nervous. I told her with her size it was too dangerous for her to drive. I spoke too soon, because suddenly Bella's blue pick up truck pulled up right in front of us nearly hitting me.

"Nope." Bella laughed.

"Hey man." Jasper called from the front seat. I laughed at how tired he looked.

"Jaz! It's been a while man. Thanks for driving them here. I get nervous with Bella's driving in her condition." I said, patting Jasper on the back.

"You can just say I'm fat. I know it. These two are really bringing down the figure." Bella said, lifting Elizabeth from my back and into her car seat in the back. Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at me, making me laugh.

We all got home shortly after to find Alice cooking. That was always the interesting sight. Jasper usually did the cooking. He knew how to make a mean macaroni.

"Hey Lucy!" I said, pulling her up and into my arms. She had Alice's small size but looked just like Jasper. It was funny how identical she was to Jasper.

Elizabeth was the perfect mix of Bella and me. She had Bella's long, wavy brown hair, and pouty lips. Yet she had my green eyes and my crooked grin. She was beautiful. I hoped that our next set of kids would be just as fortunate looking.

"How are ya, Edward?" Alice asked me, coming to grab her daughter out of my arms. I sat and talked with Alice for a bit while Jasper and Bella kept preparing food for tomorrow. You would occasionally hear them laughing, or Bella cursing the babies for kicking. Elizabeth was running around outside, playing on the swing set I just built.

"AH!" My angel screamed from the kitchen. I got up off the couch and ran into the kitchen. I saw my Bella standing in front of a pan screaming starring into it. I followed her point to where now stood Emmett. He was laughing uncontrollably.

"Get that out of my gravy right now, Emmett McCarthy!" Bella screamed, pointing down at the pot. I let out a small little chuckle. Bad idea.

"Oh. You think this is funny? Do you have any idea how hard I work to make everything perfect? I have spent hours working on this meal. And you think this is funny?" She said, leaning down on the counter. I could tell she was crying. Her hormones were in overdrive at this point.

"I'm sorry, love." I said, moving closer to wrap my arms around her.

"Do not come near me, Edward Cullen." She spat, moving around Rose to go upstairs. I heard her waddle upstairs and then slam what I would imagine was our bedroom door.

"Emmett you're a dead man when I get back." I said. I heard Rosalie hit him on the back of the head and chuckled.

I climbed the stairs two at a time. I walked down the hallway, opening every shut door to make sure she didn't go into one of the spare rooms. I could hear her crying and followed her to the last room in the hall. Her studio. I had this done for her while we were in Australia. I knew how much pottery meant to her so I built her a studio right in our house.

"Baby, please come out. I'm sorry." I said, leaning against the doorframe. I tried to open the door, knowing it was hopeless. "Bella, please, just open up. I didn't mean to laugh."

"No! I'm never coming out." Bella whined from the other side of the door. I chuckled again. "You're laughing at me again!"

"Aw, love, I'm only laughing because you just sounded like our 4 year old daughter." I said, pressing my forehead up against the woodwork. I heard a soft giggle and the door unlock. I looked down at my wife and wiped away her tears.

"I'm acting like a child." She said, wrapping her arms around my middle. I wrapped my arms around her, letting my hands run through her hair. I kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Isabella." I said, letting my lips rest of her forehead. I felt her sigh under my arms.

"I love you too, Eddie." She said, pulling back and standing on her toes to kiss my lips. It was soft, but you could feel the passion dripping off her lips. She tugged at my hand and led me back down the stairs.

"Want me to kick Emmett's ass?" I asked, while she basically dragged me back into the kitchen.

"No. I think Rose took care of that." She said, pointing to Emmett who was sitting at the counter with a sad look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Bellzo. I didn't mean to upset you." He said, looking like a defeated giant.

"It's okay, Em." She said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. His eyes instantly lit up and his smile returned. I leaned up against the counter and smiled.

Suddenly my legs were being attacked. Apparently I entered combat and no one told me. My godson began attacking me with the new rubber band gun I imagine his dad got him.

"You're going down, Emmett!" I called as I chased him through the house. We had a fun house to play in. Lots of spots to hid in, and jumped out of. I chased the little boy up the stairs and then out to the balcony. Little Emmett was about halfway down the outside staircase when I caught up to him.

"That's it." I said as I flipped him over my shoulder. He laughed and hit me on the back, multiple times. I was about to throw him into the pool when Bella yelled out the door.

"Dinner's here. And I swear to god Emmett if you come running in through this house wet, you're a dead man walking my friend." Bella yelled. I put Emmett on the ground and went back into the house.

We all ate dinner, all ten of us, sitting around the TV. Around 8:30, Bella, Alice, and Rose all went and tucked the kids in, in Elizabeth's room. They came back down, laughing over something one of the kids must have said. Bella was now in a pair of my shorts and a big shirt.

It was like the good old days. Alice went over and sat on Jasper's lap in the armchair. Rose and Emmett were snuggled up together on the floor, and of course Bella and I laid on the couch together. I wrapped a blanket around us and started kissing her neck.

"Have I ever told you that you are so sexy?" I growled into her ear, nibbling on her earlobe. I heard her breath hitch in her throat. The response I wanted.

She flipped in my arms and crashed her lips to mine. The feeling was sensational. She moved her soft, plump lips on mine, causing me to get lost in her. She tangled her hands in my hair, pulling slightly. I loved when she did this. I let my hands slip in her shorts, resting on the top of her butt.

She finally stopped and broke away for air, breathing heavily. She looked up at me with her big brown eyes and smiled.

"What was that for?" She asked, brushing some hair out of my eyes.

"Is it a crime to let the woman carrying my kids how much I love her?" I asked, rubbing my hand over her belly.

"Not at all." She replied, crushing her lips to mine, again. That's how we spent the majority of the night, in each other's loves embrace.

Thanksgiving came and went. Our extended family left and went back home. It was just Bella, Elizabeth, and myself now. I busied myself in work, waiting for Bella's quickly approaching due date. She was terribly bigger than the people I had seen carry twins.

"Edward were going to be late to the doctors if you don't hurry up!" My angels voice rang up the stairs causing me to pull my shoes on faster.

"Love, I am your doctor. So technically if I'm not there, we can't be late." I said, playfully pinching her butt. Bella stuck her tongue out at me.

"Be good for Grandma." I said, scooping Elizabeth into my arms and spinning her around. "You're going to be a big sister next week." I said, kissing her forehead gently before handing her over to my mom.

"Thanks again for watching Elizabeth, Esme." Bella said, kissing Elizabeth's forehead as well.

"Don't worry about it. I love spending time with my granddaughter. I can't wait to meet her siblings." Esme said, wishing us luck as we got into the pick up truck. It wasn't my favorite car to drive but it was easier for Bella to fit in.

We soon arrived at the hospital soon enough. I logged her in and took her to maternity ward. I made sure that the nurse had cleared out a room for us and grabbed a pair of scrubs. I ran to the bathroom to change and went back to find my Bella talking to the nurses again.

"Ready, love?" I asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yup." She said, popping her 'p' and waving goodbye to the nurses. I lead her to the room and told her sit down in the chair and put her feet up.

"Edward, I know what I'm doing. No need to be all professional on me now." Bella teased, I merely shook my head laughing. I was about to open my mouth to tell her the gel was going to be cold when she cut me off. "And I know, the gel's gonna be a little cold."

I stuck my tongue out and poured cold gel on her stomach. She took a sudden intake of breath at the coolness on her stomach. I laughed while I continued to rub it in. I took out the sonogram stuff and began tracing her stomach.

"Do you want to know the sex, love? It's up to you. Technically I already know." I said, looking up at her with adorning eyes.

"Yeah, I want to know." She said, beaming back down at me. I laughed at how eager she seemed. She was adorable.

"Well there's a…boy right there on this side." I said, secretly thrilled, I always wanted a little boy. I continued searching over her stomach to take the pictures. "There's a boy right here as well." I said, snapping another picture for her.

I was doing a normal search, checking their heartbeats and making small side comments to Bella when I hit something I was unfamiliar with. The shock must have been written all over my face because Bella began to panic and ask me what was wrong.

"Nothings wrong with the boys, I just need to get a second opinion on something. I'll be right back, don't worry love." I said, getting up and calmly leaving the room before jogging over the nurses station.

"I need Maggie here, now." I said, waiting unpatiently as the nurse paged my friend Maggie. I saw her round the corner and move swiftly to the station.

"Mags, I need you to come look at Bella." I said, pulling her towards the door. Maggie laughed and obliged.

"Hey Bella." She said as she entered the room. They had met a few years ago at a social event I was required to attend.

"Maggie, is something wrong with my boys?" Bella asked, my heart swelling as she called them her boys.

"Let me see." Maggie said, gliding the cold metal across Bella's stomach, panic still written all over my angels face. I went over and held her hand and buried my nose in her hair.

"I love you." I said, knowing very well what was coming next. Bella was either going to be very angry with me, or very excited. I couldn't yet tell which.

"Well, Edward you were right." Maggie said standing up taking off her gloves. She had frozen the picture over the same spot I had. "It's a girl."

"So, I'm having a boy and a girl? That's what all the panic was about?" Bella said, turning to me, her face turning red with anger.

"Not quite. You're having two boys, love, but you're also having a girl." I said, running my nose along her jawline. Her eyes went wide with shock then looked at me.

"I'm having triplets?" She asked in a small voice. I nodded.

"Do you hate me?" I asked, hiding my face in her neck. I felt so guilty, now she would have to go through birth three more times. Bella place her hand under my chin and pulled my face up so I was eye-to-eye with her.

"Not at all, I don't know how we're going to handle it all, but we'll manage. We'll do it together." She said, kissing me gently.

"God I love you." I whispered against her lips.

"And I you." She mumbled against my lips in return. Together we would get through it.

The next few weeks flew by. I delivered my kids, flawlessly if I do say. Bella was quite the trooper as well, delivering all three within minutes of each other. Shawn was born first, also being the biggest, he caused Bella the most pain. Then Rebecca was born, followed quickly by Will.

I had just managed to get Shawn back to sleep. He reminded me of Emmett, always wanted food, constantly. I crawled back into bed next to my angel, pulling her close to my chest. I inhaled her intoxicating scent and let her guide me into an effortless sleep.

I couldn't help but think that no matter what life threw at us, whether it be abusive parents, cancer, heartache, children, triplets, everything seemed okay when I held Bella in my arms at night. It was as if the world would stop spinning and just for a moment it would be us again, our 24 year old bodies dancing across the sand. Because we my friends, are the signature of the divine.


End file.
